Spell Weaver-Chapter 85: Team Event Starts

Mark’s SUV idled in the small lot off to the side of the Safe Zone checkpoint. Alex looked from the passenger window at the busy area as the chilly morning sun reflected off of the reinforced barriers that guarded the entrance to the city. There was a steady stream of people and vehicles flowing through the big gates, occasionally being asked to stop as he saw someone step up and activate an ocular skill to scan them.

“He’s running a bit late,” Sarah said from the back seat. “I hope he’s alright.”

“This looks like a nightmare. Is this going to be the new ‘rush hour traffic’?” Mark said as he watched the lines.

“I feel like there’s a lot of movement right now, as people get settled. Eventually, most people that are in the Safe Zone will stay in there.” Alex commented.

Olivia joined in from her spot in the far back. “What we really need are some more people willing to set up shop outside of the Safe Zone. It’s ridiculous that most people just up and abandoned their lives and are cramming inside of this ‘safe’ zone just because the government said so.”

“It does feel weird to feel a bit like an outcast.” Alex agreed. “I’m glad Edwin and Gabby were willing to register with the Hunters Association to at least get a permit to enter. I don’t really want to yet, unless I have to.”

Olivia grunted in agreement, and Sarah rolled her eyes. “You would think he gets some sort of preferential travel treatment, right? Everyone seems to love the fact that he’s a healer.”

“Cut him some slack,” Mark said while drumming his fingers on the steering wheel to the beat of the music. “Kid probably had to dodge his mom trying to stuff him with a fourth breakfast.”

With how quiet and thoughtful Sam could be, Alex sometimes forgot the fact that Sam was so young.

Almost half our age and he’s already been through something more difficult than teenage-me ever would have thought of.

“I like Mrs. Grant,” Sarah said. “Speaking of food, we should grab something when we hit the road. It’s probably going to be a long day.”

“Gabby packed us some lunch,” Mark pointed down to his spatial bag, where he’d stashed a small cooler with food.

“How much of your space did you take up with food?” Sarah asked with a smile.

“There he is,” Alex interrupted as he spotted the teenager’s sandy blonde hair in the line exiting the Safe Zone.

They watched as Sam approached the exit and pulled out a large laminated pass. He held it up for the guard to inspect, and they saw the man smile and wave Sam through after a quick scan and verification.

Sam jogged toward the SUV, his backpack bouncing against his shoulders in time with the smaller pouch at his hip.

“Sorry!” Sam said as he climbed into the middle back seat. “Mom wouldn’t let me leave without showing her the Guild notification about today’s event. Then she wanted to go through the packing supplies one more time, even though I told her we’ve all been packed since Saturday!”

Mark turned around in his seat, grinning. “Dude, you’ve got a pretty sweet deal. Hospital sponsorship, a special pass for the Safe Zone, and unlimited mom-food. Meanwhile, the rest of us are stuck outside the castle walls.”

“It’s not that great,” Sam mumbled, but a smile tugged at his lips just from Mark’s delivery. “The hospital is pretty great, and they found another healer. One of their doctors awakened and got a trait related to cleaning wounds, but he’s still really low level. But I like it out here more than in the Safe Zone. The city was already too busy for me; now it just feels really packed, and our neighbors at the assigned housing are really noisy.” There was a pause, and Sam wrinkled his nose at Mark. “Also, what do you mean the castle walls? You- we literally live in a castle now!”

They all laughed, and Alex caught Sam’s eye in the rearview mirror. “How are your parents handling everything?”

“Better, I think. Dad’s still not too happy about me being with the Guild instead of the Hunters Association, but…” Sam shrugged. “They do like you guys a lot, so I think that makes them feel better to know I’m with you. Also, the hospital sponsorship helps make it seem more legit to them.”

“Speaking of legitimate,” Olivia said, “we should get moving. It's the first day of the Team Event, and I don’t want to be late for the start. I’m sure we’ll have to deal with the media some when we get there.”

“Media?” Sarah asked, looking up from her phone.

“Guild’s making a big push for positive coverage. They’re trying to show everyone they’re taking action about the Rift situation.” Olivia’s tone was a bit more professional as she spoke on her Peacekeeper duties and the Guild’s plan. “There’ll be interviews and coverage of the teams heading in. Especially since the whole point of the event is to close Rifts and prevent more breaks from happening. Good PR.” She tossed in the last sentence with a shrug of her shoulders.

Mark pulled away from the checkpoint and merged into the lighter traffic, pulling away from the Safe Zone. “Hey, maybe we’ll get famous. This would be way cooler than being a social media influencer or something.”

Alex groaned, and Sarah quipped, “You’ve got the ego for it.”

“Hey!” Mark said while tapping the brakes and causing everyone to lurch forward.

As his friends’ banter filled the car, Alex found himself running through their strategy again. They’d practiced and planned, but this would still be their first actual test as a team. His mind absently reached out to Valtherion, wishing that he was with them. But Val needed the time to complete his own advancement, and Alex knew that the Rift they’d been assigned to would be safe for the most part.

“Everyone remembers the formation we practiced?” he asked during a lull in the conversation.

A chorus of affirmations answered him, and he nodded happily. He tried to ignore the flutter of nervous energy in his stomach.

It’s just a Common E Rank. Mark and Sam have already been in one with me and worked well together. Olivia is constantly in Rifts harder than this. Sarah is the only one I’m still a bit worried about.

Even though he knew this, he glanced at his friends that had become his team, and couldn’t shake the feeling of responsibility.

Mark caught his eye and nudged him with his elbow, “Relax, dude. We’ve got this.”

Twenty minutes later, they pulled into the parking lot of an abandoned supermarket. Through the windows, they could see the store had been completely looted and the top of a Rift portal was visible around the building's right side.

The parking lot bustled with activity. News vans with satellite dishes dotted the perimeter, and a handful of reporters stood before cameras, gesturing at the tear in reality behind them.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Looks like the Guild really went all out,” Sarah observed as they grabbed their few normal bags from the trunk. “There’s Channel 4, 7, and… is that national news?”

Mark shouldered his pack with a grin. “Think they’ll want my autograph?”

“I think they’ll want you to be quiet,” Olivia said with a grin.

Mark made an “Oooh” sound and tried to grab onto her backpack, but she smoothly stepped out of reach.

Alex scanned the area, counting at least four other people who appeared to be Awakened teams. They were standing in groups and most carried larger bags and had their weapons and other gear on display.

Benefits of having spatial bags. I bet to them, it looks like we’re really unprepared.

One group had two people willing to showboat for the cameras. They were showing off their weapons or demonstrating a skill with a small burst of mana that he could see even from that distance with his Heavenly Eye.

There was one other team acting more serious about the whole thing and Alex could recognize some of their gear as enchanted or System-granted. They were standing by an event tent that was set up and talking with three people in white jackets.

Three Peacekeepers stood at a folding table near the corner of the building closest to the Rift entrance. They wore expensive-looking winter jackets that looked like snowboarding jackets to Alex, though they had a patch on the chest and shoulder that matched the Guild logo.

“So fancy,” Mark said, clearly noticing the uniform-like jackets as well.

“That’s Jamie,” Olivia said quietly to Alex. “Glad he’s here. He’s been a Peacekeeper even longer than I have. He won’t let the media interfere with the safety of the event.” She broke away from the group and approached her coworkers with a nod.

Sam shifted closer to Alex as a report’s gaze swept their way. “We don’t have to talk to them, do we?”

“No,” Alex said while flicking Mark, who was grinning and waving at the cameraman. “We’re here to work, not try and get any sort of recognition.”

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They made their way to the registration table, where Jamie was speaking with the other team. There were two younger looking Peacekeepers to his side, handing paperwork out to those in the first team.

“Olivia,” Jamie said warmly. “Good to see you. These must be your teammates? You must be Alex- and Sam?” The man stepped forward as he introduced himself and shook Alex’s hand while giving Sam and the others a nod. “You guys have some heavy hitters on your team. I’m surprised you’re at such an entry-level Rift. You’d get more points by going to one of the higher-rated ones…”

Olivia shrugged and glanced at Alex. “I think this is good for us to start with. It’s what we were assigned to, but that’s fine. Mark and Sarah are still lower leveled, and it’ll be good for us to all practice together as a team.”

Jamie nodded and shrugged his shoulders as if the details weren’t any worry to him. After the last of the quick introductions were done, they moved off to the side to create space for the next team to check in with the Peacekeepers.

“Olivia,” one of the younger Peacekeepers called after them.

“Yes?”

“Jamie is giving a brief rundown of rules and safety before we open the Rift.”

“Alright, we’ll be here.”

The girl nodded before moving off to the next group to pass along the word.

“Can we get out our gear now?” Mark asked while looking around.

“Yeah, it’ll be best to go in there ready for anything. This will let us check over our gear one last time, too.”

Everyone nodded in response and let their normal bags rest on the ground while they began to reach into their spatial bags and remove their field gear. Alex felt like a few eyes turned toward their group, which was still in normal street clothes.

One guy with a clearly magical staff actually smirked at them, thinking they were unprepared for the Rift.

Mark reached into his spatial storage first, pulling out sections of gleaming armor. “Sarah, mind helping me with the straps?”

“You’re hopeless,” She said but moved to help him with the breastplate. The metal caught more of the light from the sun, and Alex noticed the smirking mage do a double-take.

While Sarah helped Mark, Sam began pulling out his own equipment. Alex watched him set his staff to the side and pull out several mana potions to check their contents. He smiled at Alex before putting them back into the pouch.

“Both of them still full?” Alex asked.

Sam nodded. “Yeah, they provided it if I needed any while at the hospital. But I’ve only needed that once.”

“Better safe than sorry,” Mark called over while holding his arms up and still as Sarah adjusted the final strap and pulled him backward. “Besides, your parents would kill me if I let anything happen to you.”

“Speaking of better safe than sorry,” Alex said, “you’ve got the consumable necklace?”

Sam pulled the silver chain from beneath his sweatshirt to show it to the group. “Right here. Though Mark says I won’t need it since he’s going to be the ‘best tank ever!’” Sam’s impression of Mark’s voice was surprisingly good.

“Hey, you’ve got it wrong. I am the best tank ever! Not going to be the best tank ever!” Mark hefted his war hammer for emphasis , nearly hitting Sarah in the process.

“Watch it, crazy!” she scolded while stepping back to check her own gear. She pulled out a small recurve bow and clipped the quiver to her belt.

Of their group, Alex was most worried about Sarah. They’d spent some time training with her on how to swing a sword and block some basic strikes, but in the end, she really didn’t want to be in melee or stab anything. They wanted to get her with a wand or staff to keep her safe, but when she gained her most recent skill and seen how much of her meager mana pool it took to use the skill, she had offered the idea of learning the bow.

It feels a bit rushed to have her in here still experimenting with things like this, but she isn’t always going to be in the field with us. She’s already so busy with her work. I’m just glad she could make it.

“Bringing the Christmas present?” Alex asked?

Sarah nodded, though her expression was uncertain and he could see her mouth pull into a thin line. “I’ve been practicing with it some at work. The ability to manipulate an aura from a distance is useful, but…” she glanced at the other teams. “Maybe not best to try it here. Not until I’m more confident with it. I wouldn’t want to mess something up.”

“I saw you practice with it yesterday, you were great!” Sam said.

Alex smiled, but he understood her hesitation. He knew she felt a bit out of place in this kind of environment, especially compared to the experience that everyone else in the group had.

He reached into his own spatial bag and drew out his leather notebook. He opened the front page and checked the list he’d made two days before and double-checked that he’d packed everything he’d needed for various rituals. He held the book in his offhand as he reached back into the pouch and removed his wand, placing it in the small leather holder at his hip.

“No upgrade?” Sam asked, eyeing the wand.

“I thought about it,” Alex said as he adjusted the front of his well-crafted robes. “But this one works well with the new rituals, and we need to focus on teamwork more than raw power right now.”

Olivia was the last to gear up, but her efficiency showed her experience. It only took her moments to transform from the casual street clothes into something more combat ready. Her light armor, that was placed over tight winter underclothes, was died a dark black with hints of purple in the creases.

Alex could see the daggers he’d given her for Christmas disappear into various sheaths with practiced ease.

Looking around at his fully equipped friends, Alex couldn't help but smile. The transformation was unreal. The sight of them switching from street clothes into their mismatched medieval and magical weaponry, all while standing in a supermarket parking lot, thoroughly confused his sense of what was normal.

The mage with the staff was now pointedly looking away from their group.

“Teams, gather round!” Jamie called out. His voice carried across the parking lot. “Safety briefing before we begin!”

Five teams formed a loose semicircle around the Peacekeepers, with the cameras and other reporters also huddling in to hear what needed to be said. Alex counted numbers and saw that teams ranged from a trio of what looked like college students to a group of eight wearing matching colors and stitched patches on their arms.

“Alright,” Jamie began, his expression serious. “This event marks a change in how we approach Rifts. Your goal isn’t just to complete Personal Quests and gain experience. The Guild is focusing on actually closing these Rifts and protecting our surrounding communities. We expect all teams to stay until Rift Quest completion and the Rift is closed. This is the only way that you get points for the event and receive full credit. This Rift specifically is great for multiple teams working together. Rather than a Rift boss monster to slay, there is an objective to break several resonating crystals throughout the Rift to close it. We have scouted the immediate area around the entrance and located two of the crystals, but the remaining ten are spread out and will need to be located. When we’re done here, before entering, feel free to come up and look at the map that we put together of what we do know about what’s on the other side.

He gestured to the two younger Peacekeepers beside him. “All three of us will be monitoring different sectors. With five coordinated teams in here, we don’t expect the closure to take more than a day or two. Before you enter, please grab a sulfur flare from one of the Peacekeepers and keep it on you. This is to be used in case of an emergency and only if your group needs help or someone is gravely injured.”

There was silence from the gathered group as it sunk in for some people that this situation was dangerous and more than just a PR push for the Guild. Jamie made eye contact with each team and, after receiving a nod, told them that the Teams Event officially started in ten minutes. If there were any further questions, it was the time to ask.