Biweekly Mission of the Incredible Team 6 – Mud?

Professor Lin observed the last pairs finishing their training before signalling for the class to gather in front of him. "Very good. For now, you'll maintain this dynamic of rotated sparring among team members to enhance your synergy."

The team members present exchanged glances. Indeed, during today's training, they gained a better understanding of each team member's capabilities.

"As you know, we have three days of in-person classes here at the Free Feather Martial Arts School and four free days to use as you see fit—whether to complete a team or individual mission, spend time in the Flow Pavilion conversing with other students and professors to improve your personal understanding of the flow, choose to undertake a mission from the 'External Wall,' enter a meditation period, or whatever you deem best."

"If you need additional time to complete a school mission, simply inform the Administrative Department of how many extra days you require. However, remember that unjustified withdrawal from a mission after requesting additional days will result in deductions from your TC and/or PC."

"If you choose to undertake a mission from the 'External Wall' and need more free days, you'll need to pay a total of 10 PC for an individual mission or 10 TC for a Team mission per day of absence from classes."

"In both cases, you can attend extra classes on your free days after completing the missions to catch up on academic content and flow synchronization lessons."

Professor Lin explained a crucial dynamic for the Class A-2 students: learning to manage the time they had at their disposal. The school would cover missed class days through extra lessons on free days, but students themselves needed to ensure they completed missions and returned to regular classes promptly.

"With that said, you're dismissed. Visit the Mission Department and retrieve your biweekly team mission; all the details will be available for each team. I hope everyone returns in four days with their missions properly completed."

The students briefly saluted Professor Lin and orderly descended from the platform, making their way to the Mission Department.

The members of Team 6 were part of that peculiar procession to the Mission Department. It didn't take long for them to reach their intended destination, nor did it take long for a queue to form.

Despite the Mission Department having a considerable number of staff, every time the classes from all periods received their biweekly missions, the Mission Department turned into a true crowd.

As the members of Team 6 waited in line for their turn, Ciona turned to her teammates and said, "What do you think we should do? I mean, we still don't know what type of mission we'll receive or how long it'll take to complete, but I'm not keen on wasting time procrastinating with the biweekly mission."

Kizaer nodded. "I agree. I still need to follow my grandfather's training regimen and improve my battle techniques. I don't want to waste time wandering around."

Joane looked at Ciona and Kizaer and said, "Kz and the little princess are right. I suggest that as soon as we receive this mission—depending on what it is—we could start working on it today."

Shen, who had been silent while listening to his teammates express their opinions, said, "I think it's good to finish as quickly as possible. But I disagree with the idea of leaving the school to try to complete the mission today. First, Joane, you're injured because of your imprudence in testing Kizaer's situation. Second, we're tired from daily training and classes; we need rest to be in our best physical condition."

"Having said that, I also hope our mission won't demand too much of our free time. I need to train my swordsmanship and finish my personal studies."

Joane, for the first time, let a hint of embarrassment show as she lowered her head and stared at her own feet. Kizaer, observing the change in Joane's expression, felt a pang in his chest; in a way, he shared the blame.

Ciona just laughed at the situation and said, "Alright, there's no point in dwelling on who's to blame and who isn't. Kizaer has that weird thing during battles, and the hothead over there has already paid the price." Shen smiled at that statement, Kizaer scratched his head awkwardly, and Joane completely lost her embarrassed expression, replacing it with a glare directed at Ciona.

Before Joane could open her mouth to respond to Ciona's provocation, one of the Mission Department employees cleared his throat to get the attention of Team 6 members and said, "Hello, students. I assume you're here to retrieve your biweekly mission, correct?" The employee seemed enthusiastic; it appeared he was a newcomer because his colleagues gave him somewhat skeptical looks. You could almost hear their thoughts: "Let's see how long this guy can maintain that level of cheerfulness."

Kizaer replied to the Mission Department employee, "Yes, we received instructions from our professor to retrieve the mission. We're Team 6 from Class A-2."

"Class A-2? Alright, alright. Wait a moment." The employee turned and retrieved a parchment from one of the light blue boxes before returning to the counter and handing it to Kizaer. "Here you go, the biweekly mission for newcomers, specifically for Class A-2."

Shen took advantage of the employee's presence to ask, "Missions specified for Class A-2? So will the other Class A-1 and A-3 receive different missions by category, or is this just a special occasion?"

The employee turned to Shen and said, "No, actually, to prevent Class A from cheating or trying to interfere with performance, each class will receive missions in distinct fields."

The members of Team 6 nodded and stepped away from the counter so as not to disturb anyone else. Kizaer, along with the other three, walked over to the Spirit Tree where the team sought shade during the day's break and read the parchment's contents to the other members.

"Biweekly Team Mission – Type: Elimination

Eliminate 12 Iron-Tailed Monkeys in the southern quadrant of the Perennial Forest. The monkeys' tails will be necessary as proof of elimination. Reward: 15 TC. Unjustified withdrawal: 30 TC."

Kizaer finished reading the mission content and looked up at his teammates. Surprisingly, they all wore expressions of dissatisfaction and disgust.

"Oh no…" Ciona complained.

*Pfft* – Joane spat on the ground, clenched her fists, and said, "What a cursed mission!!"

Even Shen, who always exuded a calm aura, looked sour at that moment. "Shit!"

"!!!" – Joane raised her eyebrows in astonishment. "You curse too?" she said, momentarily forgetting her displeasure.

"Don't bother me, Joane. As if this horrible mission weren't enough…" Shen didn't finish the sentence; just thinking about the type of mission the team would have to undertake was enough to genuinely irritate him.

Kizaer tilted his head to the side, completely confused by what was happening among Team 6 members. Wanting to understand, Kizaer spoke up. "Uh… guys? What's going on? The mission is quite straightforward; we can finish it tomorrow and have three free days."

Ciona averted her gaze, while Joane shot Kizaer a furious look.

"Kizaer… Do you know what Iron-Tailed Monkeys are?" Shen inquired, clearly uncomfortable with what was about to follow.

"Yes, I do. They used to be part of my training; my grandfather had me hunt them occasionally. But what about them?" Kizaer still didn't understand.

"Kizaer, when you sparred with the Iron-Tailed Monkeys, did you never notice anything peculiar about how the troop fought? Something that caught your attention?" Shen continued.

Kizaer put a hand on his chin and looked down as he contemplated. "No, actually… Well, they're quite fast. I had a hard time keeping up with their movements, but nowadays, dealing with those rascals is manageable. The annoying part is that while you're attacking one of them, the others throw rocks and branches at you—it's quite irritating!"

This time, Joane interrupted their conversation. "Kz, did they only throw rocks and branches at you?" Her voice, surprisingly, carried notes of irrational dread suppressed in her words.

Kizaer turned to Joane and, after brief consideration, it was as if a martial epiphany struck him. "Aaahhh! You must be talking about the gray-blacksmith mud, right? I don't know where those little devils get that gray-blacksmith mud, but it's quite unpleasant when they hit you with it. However, when I used to train with those annoying monkeys, I'd collect as much gray-blacksmith mud as I could, take off my shirt, make a makeshift bag out of it before filling it with the gray-blacksmith mud, and then sell it to some blacksmiths during the day. That way, I'd earn some money to buy something tasty to eat."

"…"

"…"

"…"

Joane's face paled; her expression vacillated between terror and disbelief.

Ciona's face, on the other hand, shifted through shades of green as Kizaer narrated his encounter with the monkeys. She covered her mouth so tightly that her fingers turned pale.

Shen was dumbfounded. 'This must be a joke, right?' he thought before addressing Kizaer. "Kizaer, you carried… the 'gray-blacksmith mud' using your clothes as a bag and walked from the forest to the city center with it?"

"Yes, why?" Kizaer asked.

Shen facepalmed… "Kizaer… that's not mud."

"…"

"…"

"???"

Shen sighed deeply. "That's feces."