Teaming Up

Arthur fought to keep his intimidation from showing. He had to raise his head to meet the newcomer's gaze and even then, there were other features the boy had going for him in the way of intimidation.

In addition to the lad's towering height was a build Arthur had only gotten used to witnessing when in the presence of the most powerful fighters among the phoenixes.

'Seventeen-year-olds aren't supposed to be this big,' Arthur mentally scowled. His thoughts were soon interrupted by the boy's voice.

"You know, Sullivan. I hate to admit it since this coming from a nobody like him but White here makes a valid point. Instead of fighting amongst ourselves, we should be thinking of ways to beat the Behemoth," the newcomer's deep voice rumbled.

Sullivan turned his attention to the large boy towering over him with a look of defiance. Unlike Arthur, Sullivan did not seem surprised to meet this boy. There was a hint of familiarity in the blonde's tone, "Do you hear yourselves?"

"Do I detect fear?"

"No, you… you detect reason and caution. This is a suicide mission," Sullivan argued.

"And yet standing here doing nothing is suicide as well. Ugh, this is getting us nowhere. Choose what you do from here on. I don't really mind," with that said, he turned to Arthur, "I don't think we've met. My name's Cade Black."

Arthur shook the outstretched hand, immediately noticing the callouses that riddled his large palm, "Arthur Ember."

"I've been listening. I agree with you. Mind giving us a hand? We were planning to take on the Behemoth ourselves. Your thinking is quite similar to my own. The Behemoth is all that's left and yet we're all still here. So it stands to reason that we must face it.

Keeping in mind, of course, that the results of this battle could be the difference between becoming a hunter and being deemed unfit," Cade cut straight to the point.

There was something about the burly lad that Arthur couldn't quite put his finger on him. He radiated a presence stronger than most humans Arthur had so far met.

He even seemed more powerful than Sullivan… and that was saying something.

Arthur also noticed something else about the First Years. They weren't all a part of his memory like he'd assumed they would be.

Most humans had to go through Alcove's training academy first before they could then apply to Barthlorn but something was different here.

Arthur shook the thoughts away and focused on the intimidating presence before him, "I hadn't thought that far ahead. I'm sure there are others that didn't make it. Taking them out simply because they were not fast enough seems a bit harsh, doesn't it?"

"I didn't peg you for the naive type. Hunters are strong. That's all there is to it. Die and you might as well be kicked out," Cade replied.

Arthur shrugged, "I'll agree to disagree on that one. In any case, it would be nice to take down a Behemoth. Excited?"

The prince beamed with glee.

Cade narrowed his eyes at the white-haired boy, "You're odd… not that it bothers me. If there isn't anything else, let's get to work."

...…

Arthur was a bit confused when he was asked to 'get to work.'

But soon enough, he came to understand what his new partner meant by it.

As it turned out, the group of First Years that were left, not including Arthur's friends, had split themselves into two factions.

One of those factions followed Sullivan while the other followed Cade. There was no clear hatred between them but there was a definite tension and clash of preferences.

While both Leaders had the loyalty of their subjects, they didn't seem to see eye-to-eye. Cade and Sullivan were different on many levels, most of which Arthur was oblivious to.

What was most evident though, was that Sullivan believed in not taking his people into a fight he was certain they would lose while Cade believed that to stand back and do nothing was a definitive form of suicide.

Arthur got to know the inner workings of the group that was commanded by Cade. Easily summing up to forty students, Cade divided them into Archers and Vanguard.

"First thing first. We'll need to fortify the clearing. Make it impossible for the Behemoth to come in charging," Cade said.

"Okay…" Arthur, once again, wasn't sure how that was going to work… but Cade didn't expect him to. As a Leader of a group of four, Cade restricted Arthur to discussing matters concerning battle and strategy.

Arthur's friends were even left out of the fortification process.

The group tasked with fortification got to work quickly, starting with the trees that bordered the clearing.

Using an assortment of weapons with various enchantments, they downed a large scattering of trees. Transporting the logs was also done using enchantments.

Arthur witnessed several enchantments in actions. The enchantment he'd thought of earlier to make his lance sharper was there as well. The boy with it wielded a katana that he used to slash tree stems in one quick swing.

Another student had a large sledgehammer equipped with a gravity enchantment. Oddly enough, after placing the hammer beneath a log, he could activate the enchantment and lift the large tree with next to no effort.

With Cade's effective instruction, the army of first years was able to set up a wall of pikes pointing outwards, leaving no opening for the Behemoth to gain direct access.

"Five members of the Vanguard will go out and lure the Behemoth in. Hopefully, the bastard will take the bait and come reeling in. The pikes have been sharpened as best we could and reinforced with low-level magic runes for both sharpness and versatility," Cade explained while they took a rest.

Arthur had watched them work. Cade had turned down any offer he made to help out, claiming that Arthur needed to heal his chest injuries first.

During this time, Darius drew the magic circle once again around Momo, allowing Momo to heal up as best she could.

The sun was starting its journey down by the time Cade made a signal to his resting cohort. The whole field fell silent and they gathered around the two leaders.

"First of all, great work, everyone. This is turning out much better than I'd expected and for that, I thank you all.

Now that we are all well-rested, the five appointed scouts from the Vanguard will…" Cade fell silent all of a sudden, staring beyond his cohort members.

Everyone turned just in time to see the remaining group of First Years walking up to them with Sullivan in the lead.

The blonde looked more composed than he had before.

The clearing went silent as the two groups met. Cade forged his way through his group and met Sullivan in the middle.

For a moment, there was a tense silence that was almost palpable. Sullivan was the first to speak, "You'll have more chances of success with more numbers."

"Oh?" Cade raised his eyebrows.

"Shut up, Cade. I'm simply acknowledging the better strategy. In the real world, I wouldn't fight such an enemy, I'd find a way to stall until help arrived," Sullivan explained.

"You know, Sully. There is a third option in the real world," Arthur had made it to Cade's side.

Cade turned to his partner with a look of surprise, "What would that be?"

The prince looked between the two of them before answering, "Training, of course. You don't expect to remain weaklings forever, do you? I certainly won't."

One second… two seconds… three seconds of silence passed while Arthur's statement sank in.

Cade was the first to react, throwing his head back and laughing so hard. There were others that laughed with him while some shifted nervously in place.

"Did I say something wrong?" Arthur asked.

"No, no… You're right. I might have an idea how you became as strong as you are today," Cade finally stopped laughing, wiping the tears from his eyes.

'No, you have no idea,' Arthur wanted to say but that would only warrant more questions he was uncomfortable with answering.

Cade then turned to Sullivan, "We welcome your help, Sullivan. Let's get through this with as minimum casualties as we can."

With that said, Cade left with Sullivan to discuss the division of their forces. As someone with only three people on his side, Arthur saw no use in joining this meeting so he retreated to the wall and leaned against it.

"Arthur," a soft female voice called to him.

"Yes, Momo."

"Darius was able to finish healing my leg," the archer announced.

Arthur turned to her. Standing before him was a beautiful brown-haired girl with the dangerous abilities of an archer. Standing with her were Darius and Leo.

"That's amazing. You'll be joining the archers when the behemoth arrives.

"Yes, I will," Momo replied softly, bowing a little.

"So we're really doing this?" Leo asked.

"Yes, yes we are. Although now that we've teamed up with the rest of the first years, our plans are going to have to change a bit. Leo, I leave Darius in your hands," Arthur announced.

"Arthur, I can handle myself just fine, okay? I'm not the one with the demon bear scars, remember? If anything, I should be worried about you," Darius argued.

"I hear you, Darius. When we're done though, your training will continue," Arthur smiled.

"You know, on second thought…"

"My mind's made up."

"Oh! Okay," the pale lad's shoulders slumped, "I'm screwed."

"Can I join?" Leo pitched in.

"Sure! I must warn you though. It's hard work," Arthur replied.

"Tch! You don't scare me… 'White'," Leo replied, a smug expression on his face.

Arthur's jaw dropped.