Eric had gone from picking at grass blades to shredding them.

Tess tried to find a crumb of comfort to offer him. People found their way to camp every single day. There could even be a small Settlement like theirs right around the corner, for all she knew.

Tess wanted to ask more questions, but Eric had angled himself fully away from her. The subject seemed to be closed.

"All right," Tess said. "So, what is your role?"

"I have a [Battle Map] similar to yours," Eric mumbled, then paused. "I can't draw on mine, but I can do this."

He paused again, and took a deep breath. He uncurled himself from the ground, stood upright, and raised his hands to the sky. A huge flame erupted from his right arm; it grew into the air and formed a flaming red banner over their heads. A bow and arrow flared in gold against the scarlet background.

"I can summon a standard, and assign all kinds of symbols to it. In this case, I'm showing a symbol for archery. Let's say I wanted to command anyone with archery skills to attack that tree. I can . . . " The magical banner made a loud trumpeting sound, and a giant arrow indicated the target tree.

"Awesome, Eric! You're in!"

Later, Tess blew out a breath as she sat in a circle of slate lists. She thought back to discussions she'd had with Charlie about military formations. If she could create teams with similar dynamics and strengths, then training them would be more streamlined, and the groups could work together in larger formations. Swapping members between teams—when necessary—would also be less disruptive. But Tess didn't know if that would be possible with such a diverse list of classes and abilities.

It was still the only plan she had, so she went with it.

"Each team needs someone with a [Battle Map]," said Tess. "Eric, you'll be on Team Two. They don't have anyone with a [Battle Map], and they want to stick together. Mike will be the leader, but when it comes to combat strategy, those of us with a [Battle Map] should be in charge."

Tess and Eric hunkered down to strategize and form the other teams. From the start, the disparity in classes was a problem. They had to turn away several hopefuls due to an influx of [Rogues], [Wizards], [Rangers], [Sorcerers], and [Monks]. [Fighters] were aplenty too, but people with tanking specializations were rare.

There were some weird but promising exceptions. There was a [Tamer] whose specialization bolstered his pet's strength for tanking roles. However, his current lack of a pet was a giant problem. Maybe that was something they could figure out; Tess set his slate to the side. He was a possibility for Team Six, which was looking increasingly like a team of 'hopefuls'.

The scarcity extended beyond tanks. [Lifeguards] were as rare as purple flying unicorns. Team One didn't have a [Lifeguard] but between Kate and Finn, they now had four healing spells, even though Finn still couldn't access one of them. Team Two had Jeannie who was a [Lifeguard], who healed through her stone crystals. Tess found two more [Lifeguards] for Teams Three and Four. Teams Five and Six didn't have anyone with a dedicated healing spell, but they did have some passive healing buffs; it wasn't ideal, but it was better than nothing. Teams Five and Six needed to tread carefully; their survival hinged on avoiding 'oh crap' moments in which immediate healing was critical.

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Her father didn't see the value in it, but his music had provided huge buffs, so Tess wanted to provide a similar buff to as many teams as possible. Tess assigned Bridget to Team Three, and moved Brad from Team One to Team Two.

Tess took Richard—the crabby [Wizard] from Team Two—and moved him to Team One. Tess didn't think Mike would be too upset about losing him. Plus, Richard's [Divination] could come in handy.

Tess felt pretty confident about Teams One through Three; however, Four, Five and Six didn't feel very solid.

As the afternoon wore on, Tess and Eric's duo was swelled by an influx of curious teens and preteens. Among them was Chloe; she stood quietly on the group's outer edge. Tess explained what she was doing, and showed them the slates for Teams One, Two, and Three. The kids complained at first, but she sold them the same story she had told the younger kids—that the adults needed extra training. In fairness, it wasn't even a lie.

To Tess's surprise, Chloe spoke up and suggested several thoughts and changes to Teams Three through Six. Tess strained to hear her voice as Chloe examined several slates from people Tess had previously ruled out. Chloe also found several instances where teams needed more crowd control and synergy. Tess nodded and made some notes; it was stuff she had known, but had lost in the planning.

A random teenage boy with dark curly hair chuckled. "Guess it's good weirdo spoke up."

A tense silence fell. Chloe's words dried up mid-sentence, and she shrank away from the others.

Tess's blood flared white-hot. She spun on the kid; her voice was low but laced with venom. "You would be kissing her feet if you saw what she went through in that Dungeon. I better never hear anything like that out of any of you again."

The boy recoiled under Tess's steel glare, and the laughter died on his lips. He mumbled something about only messing around, but his mumbles faltered too.

Chloe stood and walked away, hugging herself.

Tess's anger scared away everyone except Eric, but that suited her. The curly-haired boy was a dick, and he was slowing her down. She had a lot of work to get through, otherwise her Dad would be pissed.

Together, Tess and Eric worked through the slates until they had almost every role filled. She still needed a few more people, such as one more crowd control for Team Five.

Time for specialized recruitment.

Tess spent most of the day crisscrossing the Settlement, seeking individuals who would slot into her remaining team positions. By the time the Sun was dipping toward the horizon, she had filled six teams; all set to commence training the following day.

However, there was still the question of what she would train them on, and how they would do it. A shiver coursed through her at the thought of disappointing her father and wasting everyone's efforts.

Time to move onto the next phase; creating a solid training plan.

Her regular trainees, who were never that far away even when she was in a bad mood, were at a nearby campfire. Tess beckoned them over.

The jerk kid she had yelled at earlier stayed by the fire.

"Guys, can you help me and Eric with our training plan?" Tess said to them as they gathered around. "Let's brainstorm some ideas." She gestured toward an open sunny space on the hillside where they could sit and discuss things.

They eagerly exchanged ideas about what worked—and what didn't work—in their previous training sessions. When a good suggestion floated in, Tess diligently etched it onto a slate, until it was covered with chalk scribbles about strategies and tactics. At the end, Tess thanked them for their input.

With six solid teams mapped out, and training ideas and plans ready, all that was left was to bring it all together.

The hillside was now covered in stacks of note-riddled tablets. A cloud's shadow drifted across their chalk writing.

"Please don't let it rain," Tess whispered under her breath.

Tomorrow's training would focus on each team working independently—as if on patrol, or taking down a Dungeon—and on the drills which would improve their teamwork and skills. Tess outlined a detailed schedule for the training day, which would begin with team allocations, and would conclude with discussions of tactics. She even scheduled time during lunch for Team One to share their experiences of fighting the Headless Dungeon.

How long is this all gonna take?

She also wanted to train all six teams to work together as a single unit, but there just weren't enough hours in the day.

Tess pictured the hill being overrun by waves of Headless creatures, and the individual teams being submerged and consumed by the tide. They would need to merge their teams into one cohesive force. Tess wasn't sure how to accomplish this, but she hoped Charlie would have some ideas.

Tess took a deep breath, and surveyed the slate-covered hillside in front of her. There was still a lot left to plan before tomorrow.

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