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[[A/N: I didn't have the time to review this chapter, but I would rather not be late. So, here it goes.

Chapters this week: 1/3

Late chapters: 3

Next release: Thursday ]

The scouts were a crucial part of this operation and one of the things Shen had been most curious about. He was very much satisfied with their performance. They could feel things much better than him unless he used his aura. The incoming earthworms' stealth techniques were useless against Lighty and Fiery.

As expected, his squad's initial salvo wasn't fast enough to stop the news of the attack from spreading. Every earthworm in the region came quickly.

Soundy kept attacking, but now that her strikes were expected, they couldn't kill as easily—or at all. The earthworms were spread throughout the zone and came from all directions. Her attacks disappeared where they were supposed to be, but they mostly slowed down.

"Permission to deploy a control field," she asked.

Shen was surprised to hear she needed his permission for that. The Maiden had told him this was just a slightly above-average technique even when it was used correctly—which Shen hadn't yet seen—nothing that would require rigid control. Fortunately, despite how fast the enemy was coming, Syron was perfect for such split-second moments when information had to be quickly delivered.

A single syllable word with the proper intonation was enough for him to say, "I don't understand your request. Explain it to me."

She replied quickly with three syllables that meant, "I was trained like that. I don't know why. A C-rank should know."

Shen used his Path and what the Maiden had pinpointed as weaknesses of control zones to quickly calculate why control fields were controlled. He concluded that it had to do with revealing information to the enemy, especially on three fronts.

First, control zones revealed one of the Laws of the enemy's Path.

Guardians could do whatever they wanted with mana; they were only limited by their knowledge and willpower. However, they obviously favored whichever Concepts they connected with and the Laws they came from. Control zones would be useless if not infused with a Concept, so they quickly revealed to any distant observer—and not just those close enough to feel the direct attacks—at least one of the things they had to prepare against.

Second, control zones might reveal how skilled one was.

The zone's size was one of the most prominent factors, but Soundy might even be capable of creating a zone with more than one Concept. Each Concept required a lot more mana control and willpower to be added than the previous one, especially if it came from different Laws. So, on top of revealing the Law behind it, it would show this was an elite unit. It was doubly true because Shen was confident his squad had been taught how to use the true control zone that the Maiden had called above average.

Third, two different people with overlapping control zones could also reveal their worth.

His squad could bypass each other mana without issue. Both people had to be skilled for that to happen, but it wasn't too difficult. However, overlapping control zones was something else altogether. It didn't mean much for him—he had simply ignored the ogres on Earth that could do it—but it would be undeniable proof of what his people could do. The Maiden had said it required "almost acceptable" skills.

So, he had to decide if he should show it to the enemy. He quickly decided that yes, he should.

He couldn't accomplish his mission if he hid too much information. Not only would it slow him down, but if he tried to look too weak, it would also be more suspicious to an enemy observer than showing off a little. This was a warzone, and this D-Rank Area was only in place so both sides could train their people. Losses were expected, but no one wanted to throw troops to their deaths for no reason.

If the enemy suspected his mission had to do with more than what Shen had guessed—training for the squad, a test for him, and a trigger for a change of things on the planet—they would not just blindly send people to this trap. Shen didn't want peak elites like him to come, much less C-ranks.

So, revealing a great part of the power of his squad and leaving correct extrapolable possibilities in the dark made sense. That was even truer because he also needed to find out his people's strengths and weaknesses. The score call had been useful, but he had to see many things for himself.

"Soundy, obey at once, deploy a one-element control zone to kill anyone who approaches," Shen commanded. "Make it as big as you can without losing too much power."

He had already lost a few instants thinking about all that. Even with his armor's fast thinking enchantment, the enemy had almost moved ten yards from the moment Soundy asked for permission to deploy her field!

So, he had told her she was to obey at once while he kept giving commands.

"Swordy, deploy a smaller one-element control zone to protect us if you can do so without interfering with Soundy's. I want overlapping zones, not for Soundy to leave an empty area for the defensive field. If Swordy can't do it, Shieldy can do it instead. If Shieldy can't do it, just ignore this order."

Shieldy was one of their defensive specialist. It would be better if his power was inferred by the enemy, not fully displayed. Hence, he picked Swordy for the defensive zone instead.

While Shen was still speaking, everything in a five-hundred-yard radius was suffused with mana and started trembling. Soundy had deployed her control zone, which had to do with vibrations.

A moment later, more mana filled a sphere one-hunded-yard wide around Swordy and hundreds of sword blades materialized out of thin air.

To be precise, all control zones were both offensive and defensive; it only depended on how the Guardian used it. What Shen had ordered them to do was simply to focus on one thing and leave the second to the other.

Fourteen earthworms suddenly found themselves inside Soundy's zone and disappeared from Shen's mental interface after a moment. The other five nearby enemies stopped moving at once and just stood outside. A moment later, the scouts added twelve other incoming foes to the interface, coming from afar.

Alyphan had said, "A circle will be conquered if you kill all defenders within 900 yards of it and at least three of you stay within 300 yards for one Standard minute."

They had accomplished the first part, and unless stronger foes arrived, Soundy's control zone would be enough to keep the other earthworms at bay.

"Now, we wait," Shen stated the obvious.

= - = - =

Shen never expected other zones to send help, and he had been right. The earthworms were still awaiting some kind of reinforcement, though. Soon, around one hundred stood right beyond Soundy's zone.

They didn't send any probing attacks or leave the earth. They just waited.

One Standard minute later, the blue teleportation circle flashed once, and he got a notification.

| Zone A-B-49 has been captured by the High Elven-Drow Coalition

Shen said, "The earthworms insist on staying underground, so I'll guess they feel safer and stronger there. Let's leave. Shieldy and Swordy, fly back on. Soundy and Swordy, stop your control zone. Everyone, get around a hundred feet up. We'll pay fire wisps a visit."

The fire wisps defended the remaining zone next to the drow's area in the plains. Shen hoped they let him understand more of his squad's capabilities. Although he had learned some things, he still wanted to see them all fight.

The earthworms didn't try to stop them. They also were unhindered as they entered the fire wisps' area.

Shen immediately noticed an invisible spell much like his squad's hiding the enemy. It was just too obvious after his training. The ambient mana was a mess, the wind he felt was moving in a way that suggested it had touched things that weren't visible, and there were slight disturbances in the local magnetic field. He didn't say anything, though. He wanted to better evaluate his scouts.

They were almost through the enormous illusory dome in the middle of the zone when one of them called urgently, "Stop!"

"Stop," Shen instantly confirmed the order, and they all halted.

A moment later, a half-dome appeared in his mental interface. The scouts could feel a big part of it now that they were this close, but not if it covered the entire region.

This told Shen two critical things.

First, the two drow had not pierced whatever spell the earthworms had used to hide. They had merely used other signs to detect the foes underground, just like he had detected the tremors while touching the ground. Now, they were also using a similar method to feel the illusory dome, and Shen's method was better than theirs; he could clearly detect the dome's boundaries through the signs he detected.

Second, Alyphan had purposefully lied to the team about Shen's scouting score. It might be out of fear of betrayal, but most likely, it was another training facet. Shen himself saw little sense in teaching them not to blindly believe the information given to them by their superiors. It went against what the drow preached.

However, the Maiden hadn't cared about lying to him, and he doubted Alyphan, as charismatic as the man had been, was a big believer in transparency in the chain of command when there was a hidden goal to be achieved. The indoctrination the drow went through likely guaranteed there would be no future mistrust because of that.

Shen had never been willing to put his life on his squad's hands. They were just strangers. So, the new info didn't change how much he trusted them.

However, it made him wonder what other info might be incorrect. If Alyphan had lied about Shen's scouting score, he might've lied about everything else.

Shen was really glad he had decided to check their abilities in person.

The issue was that this might make them resent him for not correcting the lies earlier. He couldn't have that on his chain of command. Shen didn't care if his reveal might hurt those drow's training; this was a warzone. He wouldn't risk dying because a distrustful subordinate hesitated at the wrong moment due to an unconscious distrust of him.

"I have better scouting scores than Alyphan said," he informed. "I felt this dome much before you. I don't know why he lied, but I wasn't in on it. I just realized the truth now."

Shen wasn't sure what to expect, but it wasn't what he got. There was no big exclamation of surprise or angry feelings of betrayal. They just said, "Understood," and stood in place, still awaiting his orders after he told them to stop moving.

He smiled bittersweetly. They were really aliens, huh? Just as the Maiden's reasoning was alien to him.

A twist of his will updated the invisible dome on the mental map. He also added a few dozen "ghosts" that probably were the location of fire wisps from what he could feel.

"Come," he said and started floating higher as he explained the next plan. "From what I guessed about this D-rank training area business, they shouldn't be using defensive spells outside an actual battle. We broke the rules by coming with too much strength, and now they're breaking the rules, too. They might have other spells in place that we can't feel, but I'll bet your lives on them not going all out yet.

"We'll strike hard from directly above the teleportation circle and hope the way isn't too trapped. This will also be our first real aerial maneuver to prepare for the windriders.

"When I give the order, Shieldy and Swordy will go first. You'll be living projectiles and barriers for us; fall down as fast and hard as possible. Don't be afraid to damage the teleportation circle. I don't think destroying the circles is possible, but even if it is, I won't care. We'll just leave for the next one if that happens.

"Soundy, attack everyone in sight. Icy, keep us invisible until the two land, then drop it and assist Shieldy in protecting us. Shieldy, Swordy, and Icy will create a defensive perimeter around Soundy and me. I'll send some weak attacks too.

"Fiery and Lighty still need to keep us updated on the enemy position. I'll assist if I see any gaps in our intel, but I'll be focusing on attacking, not scouting."

Shen didn't ask if they had questions this time. He was confident they had already been detected. This dome used the same mana inversion trick that the drow were using; so, if the drow could feel the dome, the enemy might've detected them too.

As soon as they got right above where he recalled the circle was, he commanded, "Now!"

Swordy and Shieldy instantly dropped like meteors.

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