SSS Awakening: I Can Create Skills By Will

Chapter 164: Opening Moves

This was the real benefit of a private training hall. It could be shaped for exercises and training drills like this.

Across the room, the other team was studying the field as well.

Torren stood at the front like a wall, his huge shield already strapped to his arm. He looked less like a man and more like a moving fortress.

Behind him Selene quietly scanned the room. Her sharp eyes moved from platform to platform as if measuring distance.

Arthur followed her gaze and quickly understood what she was doing.

She was searching for the best shooting position.

Meanwhile Althea stood slightly behind the tanker, her hands resting calmly in front of her. She wasn’t looking at the cores.

She was watching everyone.

Arthur caught that detail and raised an eyebrow.

So she’s the brain on that side.

Torren suddenly leaned his head toward the two women and whispered something.

Arthur couldn’t hear the words but he could tell they had made their plans and were ready to move.

The enchanter nodded slightly and Selene shifted her weight like she had already chosen her position.

Arthur turned his head slightly.

Ryn stood beside him with his usual relaxed posture but his eyes were focused.

"You see it too?" Arthur asked quietly.

Ryn smirked.

"Of course."

His gaze moved toward the center of the hall where one of the floating cores drifted slowly.

"The center one."

Arthur nodded.

"Yeah."

It was the most obvious core in the room. Right in the middle of the battlefield, easy to reach but also easy to fight over.

Ryn chuckled under his breath.

"Watch the big guy."

Almost as if he heard them, Torren stepped forward.

The wooden floor gave a dull thud under his heavy steps as he moved straight toward the center core.

Arthur crossed his arms slightly.

"Called it."

Torren’s plan was clear.

If the rule said the person holding the core couldn’t attack, then a tanker was the perfect candidate. Even without attacking, someone like him could simply sit there and block everything.

He didn’t need to chase, he just needed to become a wall.

At the same time Selene moved.

She didn’t run toward the center.

Instead she headed toward one of the raised platforms near the corner of the hall.

Arthur watched her climb it quickly and settle into position.

From there she had a clear view of almost the entire battlefield.

Arthur gave a small nod.

"Good choice."

Ryn shrugged.

"Basic strategy."

And he wasn’t wrong.

It was the kind of formation most explorer teams used.

Tank controls the center.

Marksman takes high ground.

Support controls the flow of the fight.

Simple. Effective. Safe.

But Arthur didn’t look down on it.

In fact he respected it.

Teams that mastered the basics usually survived longer.

Still, he felt excitement bubbling in his chest.

"Let’s see how it plays out."

Ryn turned to him.

"The center core is a trap."

Arthur grinned.

"Let them have it."

They didn’t even need to say more.

Both of them understood the same thing.

If Torren wanted to hold the center, then they would simply take the other two cores instead.

Arthur looked over his shoulder.

"Nox."

The scout was practically bouncing where she stood.

"Yeah?"

"You ready?"

Her eyes lit up instantly.

"Finally!"

Arthur chuckled.

He had noticed earlier that she seemed worried about being left out of the plan.

But that wasn’t going to happen.

In fact, their strategy relied on her more than anyone else.

"You’re the fastest among us," Arthur said.

Nox blinked.

"Really?"

Ryn nodded.

"Definitely."

Arthur pointed toward the core floating near the far side of the hall.

"Your job is simple. Grab that one."

Nox straightened up.

"And then?"

"Run," Arthur said.

Her grin widened.

"Oh, I can do that."

Arthur leaned slightly closer.

"You don’t need to fight. Just hold it for thirty seconds."

That was the beauty of the rules.

If the core holder couldn’t attack, then someone who focused on speed instead of combat became extremely valuable.

Nox might not be the strongest fighter here.

But she was quick.

And the moment she held the core, Arthur and Ryn could fight freely while protecting her.

Instead of slowing the team down, her weakness actually became an advantage.

Nox cracked her knuckles lightly.

"Got it."

Then she suddenly took off.

Arthur watched her sprint forward the moment the first team moved.

She didn’t run straight toward the core.

Instead she slipped between the wooden obstacles like water flowing through cracks.

One foot touched the edge of a crate before she pushed herself sideways, sliding behind a stack of training posts.

Arthur blinked.

Fast.

Ryn whistled quietly.

"Not bad."

Nox moved like she had practiced this kind of movement for years. Every obstacle in the hall became a stepping point or cover.

She ducked under a rack of spears, rolled across the floor, then jumped onto a low platform before pushing off again.

From the raised platform across the hall, Selene finally noticed her.

The marksman’s eyes narrowed.

She had originally focused on the center, expecting the fight to begin there.

But the small scout had already slipped halfway across the hall.

Arthur could almost feel the shift in the air.

Meanwhile Torren reached the center core.

The large man grabbed it with one hand and lifted it easily.

The glowing sphere floated just above his palm.

He planted his shield firmly in front of him.

Now he looked even more like a fortress sitting in the middle of the battlefield.

Arthur let out a low whistle.

"Well... the wall has arrived."

Ryn folded his arms.

"Let him sit there."

Arthur nodded.

Torren had secured the central core.

But that didn’t mean the match was decided.

On the far side of the hall Nox made her final dash.

She leaped over a crate and stretched her arm forward.

Her fingers closed around the floating core.

The moment she grabbed it, the sphere dimmed slightly, signaling that it had been captured.

Nox laughed out loud.

"Got it!"

Arthur grinned. "Nice."