Free Web NovelChapter 44: A Leader’s Stance
Silas almost ran to the team’s meeting spot.
His mind was still occupied by the bizarre experience he had just gone through. He had gone to Laros hoping for a breakthrough and returned with even more mysteries than before. However, the moment he arrived, all those thoughts vanished.
Another team was standing opposite his own.
His meeting place with the team was in the garden where they boarded the shuttle from yesterday. The shuttle was there, alongside another one that sounded like it belonged to the other team.
That told Silas a lot about the identity of the other team. Leopard was first, Cher was second, and the third student in their year must have been part of the other team. Yet when Silas looked closer, the tension hanging between the two groups felt thick enough to ignite at the slightest spark.
Silas slowed his steps and listened.
"Humph. You might think you have a chance, but against me, you have none."
A sharp female voice rang out from the opposing team.
At first glance, Silas had assumed the large young man standing at the front was their leader. Instead, the speaker was a petite girl standing near the back. Despite her small stature, everyone around her seemed to listen to her.
More importantly, she and Cher appeared to know each other. And weirdly enough, she was also a mage with that short staff she held in one hand.
"You actually think being an Enhancer is enough to drag your pathetic team into the top three?" the girl sneered. "Keep dreaming."
Silas frowned. He looked at Cher, and for once, she remained completely silent. He had never seen her like this before. The sight irritated him far more than it should have.
"Who says she won’t crush your pathetic team and climb all the way to the top?"
The moment he spoke, every eye turned toward him. The atmosphere had been so tense that no one had even noticed his arrival.
The petite girl examined him from head to toe before smirking.
"So you’re the acting leader of this worthless team?"
Silas walked forward. Just as he drew close enough, two members of the opposing team instinctively moved to block his path. Yet, he ignored them completely. Without slowing down, he stepped between them and stopped directly in front of the girl.
Standing there, he realised just how small she was. Even Silas, who wasn’t particularly tall, towered over her.
"I’m the leader of this team," he said calmly, emphasising every word. "Not some clown pretending to be one."
The girl blinked. Then she laughed as she turned toward Cher, while hopelessly shaking her head.
"Are you really that desperate?" she asked mockingly. "Working under someone like him?"
She pointed at Silas.
"Even after your father cut you off, you shouldn’t have fallen this low."
Silas’s eyes narrowed, resisting the urge to bite the finger she pointed at him. Yet from these words, he knew he had been right. The two knew each other well. The revelation changed nothing.
"You know I’m right, Cher. Without your father’s support, what exactly are you planning to achieve?"
The girl looked back at him with a smug smile.
"Listen, orphan boy. Following her won’t get you anywhere. Why don’t you leave that sinking ship and join my team instead? I’m an L-Enhancer, and my family actually has influence and supports me."
Silas glanced toward Cher, where she was looking down. For the first time since he had met her, there was no fire in her eyes. There was only guilt and weirdly shame.
Seeing her like this made something inside him snap.
"What’s so special about being an L-Enhancer anyway?"
The girl frowned.
"You really came from under a rock," the petite girl laughed in amusement. "Without your family backing you, you won’t get anything. See those strong Enhancers in my team? They joined thanks to my family’s connections and influence. And yet look at her, and how a group of losers are in her team. That’s how being a supported L-Enhancer means; that’s the big difference between me and her..."
Silas stepped forward, and with his simple move, he interrupted her rude words. He couldn’t tell if her words were right or not; he didn’t know if he was barging into affairs that weren’t related to him. But he was sure of one thing: Cher was his teammate, and he wouldn’t watch her getting humiliated like this without stepping up for her.
"Whether her father supports her or not has nothing to do with me. It has nothing to do with this team."
His voice remained calm, but his gaze grew colder. He stood so close to talk down to the petite girl as if he were standing atop a mountain.
"I’ll lead this team, and together we’ll crush yours. When the next mission begins, we’ll leave your team behind in the dust."
The girl’s expression darkened, while Silas continued.
"Besides, I find it a bit funny."
He looked down at her.
"Funny. For someone who keeps bragging about her family, you don’t seem very confident in your own strength. Besides, I grew up in an orphanage, so at least I have an excuse for looking rough around the edges. What’s yours, petite girl? Being this small would be fine if you had a brain to make up for it."
"You!"
Her face instantly turned red with fury. Then several members of her team moved forward, but Silas had already stepped back. He had said everything he wanted to say.
Yet, before leaving, he gave the entire team one final glance.
"Remember my face."
His gaze swept across them.
"When you see me during the mission, run in the opposite direction."
Then he turned and walked away. He didn’t wait for a response; he didn’t even look back. As he passed Cher, however, she finally raised her head. Meeting her eyes made Silas smile faintly.
The fire had returned, as her violet eyes blazed once more.
He knew better than most how difficult the Enhancer path could be without support. No one needed to explain that reality to him.
But he also knew something else; in Eldrune, strength ultimately belonged to those who seized it themselves. No family could decide another person’s limits.
"Thanks."
The word was barely a whisper, yet they managed to relieve a great pressure on his chest. During this brief encounter, there was an unsettling feeling gnawing at him. He didn’t know if he crossed a line or not. Above all, he was worried he made things worse for Cher.
Their eyes met for only a moment, and there he saw more than what her single grateful word conveyed. She felt deeply touched by what he did. Yet Silas didn’t understand exactly how much this moment meant to her.
The person closest to her had abandoned her. While a stranger she had met by chance in the infirmary had not. Even when he was blatantly told he wouldn’t get any benefit from being on her side, he still chose to support her, regardless, without a speck of hesitation.
Silas simply nodded and led the team toward their shuttle. The ride to the training platform was unusually quiet. No one spoke, even the talkative Lara and Darius kept their silence. Yet their gazes said enough.
Again and again, they found themselves looking at Silas. Even Darius wore a conflicted expression. Silas had not defended Cher because she was powerful; he had not defended her because she was useful. He had defended her because she was a member of their team.
The moment the shuttle landed, Silas turned around.
"Let’s begin."
The team immediately focused.
"I spent the night preparing several new tactics."
He pointed toward the Achievement Board.
"Our goal has never changed."
His gaze swept across them.
"We started as Team Twelve."
A brief silence followed. free𝑤ebnovel.com
"After the next mission, we’ll be Team One."
Determination ignited in every pair of eyes.
"Now let’s earn it."
For the next several hours, the team trained relentlessly.
Silas guided them through tactic after tactic, refining formations and adjusting combat roles. Every strategy had been developed inside the Time Mind World, and to everyone’s surprise, they worked exceptionally well.
The training progressed smoothly, everything did, except for one thing. Hours had passed since his encounter with the petite girl. He had already vented his anger.
’Why is anger still there? Why does my blood boil as if I just met that girl?’
Even now, while riding the shuttle back to the garden, a familiar fury continued to simmer beneath the surface. Feeling it made Silas frown.
Then his expression slowly darkened.
’...Don’t tell me.’
A cold realisation struck him.
’That bastard isn’t awake already, is it?’
