Shadow Author

Once it was made clear that everyone left didn't have any plans of leaving Miss Smith started setting us up.

Charlotte and I went out separate ways as I went to find a suitable sword.

After grabbing a sword off the racks I made my way toward Miss Smith so that teams could be made.

With the number of people limited, rankings messed up, and fewer members of each class, Miss Smith decided to pick the teams for a while until we got back into the groove of things.

Therefore while she called out three numbers at a time I waited patiently for my turn.

"43, 9, and 993."

Once everyone heard my number they all turned to look at me.

Nearly everyone below the 300's left because they believed themselves to be too weak to survive.

Although there were a few lower-ranked people who stayed, the next lowest was 602. This meant there was more than a three hundred space gap between skill levels.

When I made my way toward my team they didn't bother to hide their disappointment.

"Why are we the ones who got the trash? He is just a burden!"

"He's completely useless, why did he even stay?"

"What did I do to get this unlucky?"

Once I finally arrived near them they didn't stop but instead increased to threats.

"Hey, you better not pull us down."

"Yeah, you do know this isn't a simulation anymore, a stab will really stab you?"

I just smiled at them:

"Yes I'm aware and you don't have to worry about me, I can handle myself."

They looked at each other.

"Pfff."

"Haha, sure buddy, just hide in the back, we will handle this."

While they were busy making fun of me Miss Smith finished making the teams and started putting us against each other.

"43, 9, and 993 vs 102, 602, and 2."

As soon as my teammates heard who we were going up against all the color in their faces dropped.

"Shit, why is my luck so bad? Did I get cursed?"

"Why do we have to go up against a monster like Willow?"

"Man we are so fucked."

"The other two aren't a problem but Willow can take all three of us out all on her own."

"If only we didn't have to worry about her."

"…"

"…"

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"If you are thinking what I'm thinking then yes."

The two of them gave each other a look before turning to include me in their conversation.

"Hey, 993, buddy, what's your name?"

Already knowing what was happening I followed along like a puppet.

"My name is Lucas."

"Lucas, why don't you do us a favor?"

The one who asked slung his arm around my shoulder and got real close to me.

Acting ignorant I responded:

"Yeah! What do you need?"

Hearing my energetic response the second brat placed his arm on the other side of my shoulder.

"Well you see, Willow and you seemed to have a conflict. I'm sure she is pretty pissed off right?"

I nodded while having a gloomy face:

"Yeah, I can't believe I got paired against her! She will try to kill me!"

The response I gave was just what the two were hoping for, giving each other another look from above my head as they went in to finish it.

"Listen, I bet you also want to get revenge against her, if you follow our plan we can beat them."

Looking shocked I rose my eyebrows:

"Really? You can beat her?"

"Of course, that is as long as you stick to the plan."

"What is it?"

Knowing I was in the palm of their hand the other kid explained it:

"Since Willow already has beef with you we just need you to distract her for a little bit. While that happens the two of us (he pointed at the other brat) will quickly take care of their two then rush back to triple team Willow."

As I listened to the plan I made sure to express how worried I was.

"B-but how am I supposed to handle Willow? You said it yourself, I'm just a burden."

Their intentions were almost revealed when one of their faces almost crumbled but they were quickly able to recover.

"Hey now, you know I didn't mean it like that."

Seeing that twin one was in trouble, twin two came in for the rescue.

"Yeah that babble mouth doesn't know what he is talking about, in fact, you have the most important job."

While one glared at two I acted as if to fall for the trap.

"Me? Having the most important part?"

Needing to finish it fast, they decided to build up my confidence.

"Yes! Without you distracting Willow we have no shot at winning."

"He's right everything will rest on your shoulders."

Showing that I was about to accept, I gave one last opposition to see how they would overcome it.

"What if I go for 602 then the two of you can take on the last two?"

They both shook their heads.

"That won't work, unfortunately, we aren't confident enough in our skills to take out 102 without being stopped by Willow."

Satisfied with their answer of blaming themselves rather than saying I could be too weak to take 602, I agreed.

"… okay, just hurry back, I don't know how long I will be able to keep her occupied."

They cheered:

"Of course, now we have a fighting chance!"

"Yes, thank you Lucas, without you we would be lost!"

While we worked out the last few inconsistencies our match was finally called.

As the three of us made our way to the stage I quickly pulled up my smartwatch and sent a message to Willow.

Unfortunately, I wasn't fast enough and Miss Smith called me out to put it away.

Wanting to be cooperative I shut it down with just enough time to press [send].

Miss Smith stood before us and clarified the rules before we began.

"Remember this is no longer a simulation where when you get hit you take damage like in a game but you actually get harmed. Also, Mr. Flankski and I will be watching over this battle, if there is even the slightest chance of someone dying we will immediately take action to prevent it. Does everyone understand?"

We all replied at once:

"Yes!"

Miss Smith nodded:

"Great, then separate yourselves and we will begin."

As our group broke away from the others and moved to the other side of the classroom the two twins gave me a thumbs up and the countdown from Miss Smith began.

"Ready."

I positioned my sword in front of me.

"Set."

I took a deep breath and recounted how the battle would go.

"Fight!"