175 The Art of Teamwork Part 1

Efren was serious and responsible by nature and was fully prepared to support Eris, however, he realized that she did not need as much help as he originally assumed. As if trained, the minute she entered the forest, she crouched down and started rummaging around the forest for something. When she stopped, she stood up with a long stick in her hand. Keeping hold of Efren on her left side, she used the right hand to hold the stick and touch around. In this way, she began to confidently walk forward even without his reminders. With Efren on her left helping her avoid things on that side, she just needed to use the stick to keep the right side in "sight".

"Jegers love dark and damp places, so they are usually located deeper in the forests where the shade is even greater. You are probably pretty familiar with the forest, right? Lead the way." Keeping her head forward, Eris spoke up and questioned Efren.

"...Yes." 

"Let me tell you now, women do not like men who treasure their words like gold. I'm not telling you to suddenly become chatty because, with your looks, the contrast would be a little too disgusting. Just, spread you answers a little. Later on, if you come to my kingdom, I'll introduce you to some of my favorite ladies. They are all beautiful and charming~. Picking up women is also an art. This master will give you a couple tips." 

Although Efren could not see her eyes under the blindfold, he could almost feel the playful wink directed towards him. Somehow, this beautiful woman was more of a rogue than any of the lustful nobles he had seen around. When he fought her, she was much more serious and powerful. How did she become so lackadaisical the minute she was off the battlefield?

"It won't be necessary." He finally answered.

The forest surrounding them descended into silence once again.

"At this rate, I feel I might kill you instead of the Jegers." Eris spoke up once again. "I miss my cute Greyson, he is so much more fun to tease. My beautiful maids, too, they would never make me suffer in this silence."

Efren did not even deign to answer. He just sighed helpless and picked up the pace. All he could think about was finishing the mission faster and throwing away this crazy tomboy far away from him.

...

"Pfffttt..." While she tried to hold it in for a minute, Aphina could not help it and starting cracking up. Holding her aching side, she almost teared up from all the laughter. It was just too funny. He was obviously holding his head up arrogantly and walking seriously with each step. With that majestic posture, he slammed right into a tree! This was pure comedic gold! She almost regretted that she was the only one in the audience right now.

"*Cough* ... Could you be more serious? We need to get this mission done. You should let me know in the future if there is something there. Communication is key to building teamwork." Clearing his throat, Trevion thickened his face. Anyways, he was still someone who had lived almost 40 years. In normal human terms, he was middle-aged. He just let himself go and did not care for her laughing.

"Hm... Yes, you are right... I'll tell you next time." Clearly pausing in between her words to hold in laughter, Aphina gave a positive response still.

"I do not want to fail this mission. I think we can work together and finish well."

"You are right. I'll be serious next time. We really do not want to end up suffering through Uncle's punishments. They are never physically draining, but psychologically draining. I don't even want to know what 'great thought' he has given this time. His smirk said it all. My Uncle's expression does not change like that unless he is really amused and pleased. The more it's like that, the more crazy or weird the punishment will be." Aphina shivered in fear and finally the laughter cleared away. She grabbed Trevion's wrist and pulled him along quickly towards the inner parts of the forest. 

This time, one could hear her quiet voice sending out reminders of his surroundings. The two made quick progress through the forest.

...

Colin and Braiden were both older and steadier, so, from the beginning, they did not give Tatyana a hard time. Instead, they almost surpassed the first two groups because they traveled at a fast speed with serious expressions. The only problem was that the two of them liked to move quickly but in completely different ways. Braiden was almost frustrated by running around like they were instead of traveling through the shadows as he normally would. Tatyana also felt that she was stifled by the slow pace where she would normally be running off with the wind. However, she was blindfolded and needed to reply on other's directions. Otherwise, she could run straight into a branch or tree which could seriously injure her at her normal speed.

Colin was the only one left unbothered. He continued to scan the surroundings hoping to get lucky. They were still pretty far from the inner forest, but maybe he would get lucky and see one.

...

The Duke's soldiers following each group nodded in approval watching their respective groups. They were taking it seriously from the beginning which was a good sign at least. But who knows how they would hunt together? Someone without the same element ordering another person would be difficult since they don't innately know how other elements work. Even if they had a common element, it would still be hard if they don't have similar fighting or hunting styles.

The final group's invigilators reported in: Off to a negative start.

It was brief, as the messages could not be long. But just from those words, the soldiers are pitied Greyson in their hearts. From the earlier observations, that young noble lady would definitely be trouble. She did not look like she had left her pampered mansion her entire life. How could she suddenly fare well in the forest? She even wore a long skirt to the practice. Although it was not some full blown dress, it was still unwieldy. Even Princess Aphina wore pants and casual fighting clothes for ease of movement. 

...

Just as those soldiers suspected. Cherell was like precious glass. She seemed to think she would break from the slightest bumps. First, it started with the complaints about getting mud and dirt on her shoes and skirt. Greyson just inwardly scoffed and continued feeling around to move on his left side. However, Cherell suddenly pulled away from him and allowed him to get caught in a thorny bush. She continued to instinctively avoid things and forget to warn Greyson about going around them as well. If someone were to see Greyson at this point, they would almost wonder if he had a fight already. His clothes were clearly distressed and dirty. His hair was messed up with a couple of leaves caught inside. Thankfully, the small cuts he got every now and then would heal quickly. Even without him thinking about it, his dragon bloodline would help him hasten healing of smaller wounds. His skin was also thick and they did not hurt much in the first place. However, Greyson not hurting was far from him not caring about running into all these trees, bushes, or even tripping over tree roots and falling into the dirt. However, he held it in because they were still progressing and he did not want to fight and slow their movement. 

Not too long into their trek, Cherell suddenly stopped and plopped down next to a tree.

"What are you doing?" Greyson turned towards her general direction.

"What does it look like?" She shot back.

"Well, gee, I can't see, so I really couldn't tell you." He sneered with his voice practically dripping with sarcasm.

"I'm resting. I need a break. I'm exhausted." She finally responded more clearly.

"It has barely been a couple hours. How could you already need rest? We need to keep moving. I've read about Jegers. They are usually in the inner and more shaded parts of the forest. I want to get there before nighttime that way we can take a quick rest and start preparing ourselves to hunt before their most active time. Just wait a couple more hours, then we can take a longer break." Trying to reason with her, Greyson explained his logic. But he clearly overestimated her ability to think in the long-term or for the good of their temporary partnership.

"No! I said I can't move anymore! My feet hurt and my legs are sore. My shoes are all dirty and my skirt is ruined."

"Would you give it a rest?!" He finally shouted when she refused to get up. "Why are you being so difficult?! It's like you have never seen the outdoors or something. How could you possibly be part of the 10 representatives with such pathetic endurance and strength? You'll just end up dragging he rest of us down later. I really regret I did not challenge you and kick you out of the group while I could. At least, Rouven was aware of his own strength and position and wanted to leave before embarrassing himself. While you have just shamelessly stuck out your existence. You should have worn comfortable shoes and pants to begin with. Even if you did not know we would be sent out into the woods, we were supposed to be practicing and fighting. Inevitably, we would all get a little dirty and have to move around. Why would you wear clothes that you are so reluctant to get dirty in the first place?"

He really could not take it. Greyson felt on the verge of hurting her after only a couple of hours. How was he supposed to complete the rest of the mission later?

"You, you, you..." Her face bright red, Cherell could only repeat the same word as she glared daggers at Greyson.

"Me, what? Is it not the truth?"

"..." Her mouth continued to open and close wordlessly at a loss for words. Her face turned so red from shame and anger that it looked like she would blow steam out her ears any second. 

"So, are we going to keep moving?" He pushed. He was way passed delicacy at this point. Treat her any more delicately and she will really think that she can treat this as a leisurely outing. 

"...Not moving." Although she hesitated, Cherell still pursed her mouth, crossed her arms, and refused to move.

Greyson frown deepened as he started walking towards the direction her voice came from.

"What are you doing?"

He did not respond and continued getting closer. When he was close enough, he reached out towards her. Shocked, Cherell forgot to dodge and let his hand touch her arm. Taking the arm, he pulled it around his neck and lifted her up into a princess carry.

"I asked: what are you doing?! Put me down this instant! Where do you think you are placing your hands?!" Struggle as she might to get out of Greyson's grip, Cherell could not move from his arms. Her measly strength could not make a difference.

"Well, right now, we started late so we were behind the rest then you proceeded to walk slowly so we are probably even further behind. I need to speed up this process. If you are going to continue to complain, then I might as well just carry you like this. At least, I don't have any troubles this way. Plus, now you are in front of my body, so if you don't want to be the one running into everything, then you better start giving me better directions." Tired of waiting for Cherell to do more, Greyson decided to just force the issue. When it came to brute strength, he had plenty of it. Carrying Cherell would not tire him out much. Unbeknownst to Cherell, the white scales on his body already began to appear under his clothes. Greyson had a lot better control over his transformation now, so he only used it for a boost in strength in his arms and legs.

In a blind leap of faith, he began to break out into a fast-paced run. Cherell broke out of her thoughts and started shouting out in fear.

"Are you crazy? Put me down! No wait... wait! Stop! There's a tree! To the left, to the left!" She still tried to get out of his arms in the beginning but was then forced to start giving directions for her own safety.

And like that, the two finally managed to start moving with good speed towards everyone's goal.

...

In the meantime, Eris and Efren made swift progress through the forest. Both of them moved well together especially with Efren's responsible directing. Eris was also confident in herself and do not fear looking silly while swinging the stick around, thus she allowed herself to move faster without fear of running into things with too much force.

They reached their general destination fairly quickly. Efren also began to frown because the visibility was already lower as the forest grew dim. The light was blocked out by the trees and leaves even the air grew chillier. 

"Let's take a break and think of a plan." Eris suggested.

"Okay."

When they both picked a spot to sit down, Efren remembered to ask.

"How is your long distance attacking ability?"

"...trash." After pausing in silence for a moment, Eris still answered honestly.

"...that bad?" At a loss for words, Efren also took a moment of silence before continuing.

"Well, you would not have lost to me earlier if I was not a good fighter. I certainly didn't get to my level of skill with the spear and close quarters combat by wasting any time practicing long distance spells. So, yes, honestly I'm not good with accuracy over a long distance nor do I know any great spells for long distance shots either." 

"..." Efren stopped answering and sat in silence as he began to think about how to solve this issue. 

"It looks like we will have to try to lure a Jeger close enough to us that you could attack." He finally spoke again.

"Yeah, no kidding. The problem is just how we are going to do that."

"I have a plan."

...

In another part of the same area, Trevion and Aphina were also starting their hunt. Aphina was keeping her eyes peeled while looking at the surroundings. She finally spotted a black piece of fur quite a distance away from them. She had enhanced her sight earlier with a support spell, so she was able to see it from far away.

Excited, she quickly tapped Trevion's shoulder and whispered over to him.

"I see one! It's over to the right!"

But before she could finish, Aphina accidentally stepped straight onto a crisp twig on the ground. A clear *Snap!* sound came out from beneath her feet. After flinching, she quickly looked back to where she saw the Jeger. She saw the beast's ears twitch before turning dark blue eyes in her direction. The minute it saw her, the beast ran off into the wind and she could no longer see it anywhere.

"It ran off..." She dropped her head in shame.

"Next time you see one, just stop moving. We will immediately stop and try to just use your hands to point my own in the direction you see it. Even whispering could be too loud unless well-controlled. Their hearing and senses are quite sharp. We will also have to start walking extremely carefully, otherwise, we could scare any of them away before getting close enough for you to spot them. It seems were are already in the outskirts of where their common territory starts, so we should be prepared. You should be prepared because I am not as skilled in attacking, so we will inevitably miss a few in the beginning while working out the kinks of our teamwork." Trevion stayed calm and did not get upset. Instead, he started coming up with a plan and making sure Aphina understood the reality of their situation. He was not expecting much results this first day of hunting. In fact, they may not even get one today, but he felt they would be able to improve enough to catch more and more at a faster pace the closer it gets to the deadline. He was not thinking about finishing early. As long as he could reach the goal before the deadline then he was content.

"Alright, I get it. Let's keep moving." Aphina was quick to bounce back and appreciated Trevion's stable attitude. She knew that it definitely helped her stay calm as well and keep clear goals in mind without getting too far ahead of herself.

...

With Tatyana and Braiden working together, the two had actually already managed to catch one Jeger. Braiden understood how to give accurate directions to a location, and Tatyana had great long distance accuracy with her needles. The weapon itself was a silent one that was laced with poison, so she did not even need to hit a vital point. As long as the Jeger was even nicked, the poison would do the rest of the work to debilitate it. Then, they could approach and kill it with a quick stab of Braiden's dagger. Colin became an almost useless accessory.

"My uncle should have definitely been aware that we would be able to finish this task easier than the rest if we were put together. It shouldn't be this easy..." Braiden whispered while feeling like he was missing something.

"Maybe the Duke had specific people he wanted to pair together and so our last group was just put together in the end with the people left. Who just happened to have the right skill set for this mission. Who is to say the next teamwork exercise would work in our favor? Next time, we could be the ones suffering big time. We were just lucky." Colin was not feeling the same doubts.

"I mean the sounds logical. I just don't know. My uncle is not that type of sloppy person." Braiden could see what Colin was trying to say, but he still had a sinking feeling that this was just the beginning.