Chapter 75: Working Together

The next tunnel led them into a chamber divided by a raised strip of broken ground. A broad passage opened on the left, while a narrower route ran along the right wall.

Gareth stopped beside the blue marker and waited for the students to gather behind him.

Looking across the chamber, Leon quickly noticed that anything approaching from the right could disappear behind the raised ground before coming close enough to attack.

"Caleb’s group first." Lex said. "Stay on this side of the broken section. Everyone else, keep the entrance clear."

One professional moved towards the left passage, while another took a position overlooking the right. The rear guard remained behind the waiting students.

As though on queue, three Ridgebacks appeared. One came through the broad opening, while the other two moved along the narrower approach.

Caleb summoned his Greyhorn Boar.

"Left again?" He asked.

"Fine." Leon replied.

Nolan’s Wind Hawk rose into the open space above them, though this one was even narrower than the last, limiting its movement a bit more.

Leon only summoned the Great Swordsman this time and directed it towards the two Ridgebacks coming from the right. He remained well behind the fight, with nothing blocking his path back towards the others.

’No reason to stand any closer.’ He said to himself. He would even stand with the other students if he was allowed to.

The first Ridgeback lunged at the Swordsman, but its blade easily cut across the joint of one front leg, and then it moved inside the creature’s turn before its tail could gather enough speed.

Just then also, the second Ridgeback came around from the other side.

The Swordsman allowed the injured one to stumble between them while it moved beside the raised strip, caught the second monster’s reaching foreleg with a downward cut and turned its next bite aside with the flat of its sword.

Behind it, the first Ridgeback tried to stand just as the Swordsman stepped back, then in an instant, drove its blade beneath the exposed jaw and moved out of the way before the creature’s body finished falling.

Leon looked towards Caleb and Nolan.

The Greyhorn Boar was holding the Ridgeback on the left, while the Wind Hawk continued attacking its face. Neither summon moved into the Swordsman’s side of the chamber, making the fight much easier for everyone.

The remaining Ridgeback on the right swung its tail and missed, and the Great Swordsman moved past the thicker base of the tail, cut behind one of its front legs and finished the creature when its head dropped within reach.

Naturally, Leon hadn’t needed to give it another instruction, and that was starting to get picked up by the others who watched as Leon remained silent while his teammates yelled commands.

Caleb and Nolan killed their own Ridgeback shortly after. The Boar forced it to turn, leaving the softer parts of its neck open for the Hawk.

"Clear." Gareth announced.

Leon called the Swordsman back and dismissed it.

Caleb exchanged a few words with Nolan while Lex brought the next group forward.

Leon watched Linda summon her Yeti beside Mara’s Hound and Iris’s Tortoise.

Two more Ridgebacks were coming through the broad passage on the left, while a third moved along the narrower route to the right.

The professional covering that side stepped forward and struck the creature hard across the snout, stopping it from entering the chamber and giving the students enough room to deal with the other two.

Mara sent her Hound around the first Ridgeback while Linda used ice to catch its advancing feet.

The Yeti moved in and struck the creature’s shoulder, turning it away from the students.

The second Ridgeback began circling them.

Iris directed her Tortoise across to meet it, but the heavy summon moved into the same gap Mara’s Hound was using. Mara had to pull her summon back before it became trapped between the Tortoise and the Ridgeback.

"Iris, hold the right." Lex said. "Don’t cross Mara’s approach."

Iris corrected the mistake immediately.

The Tortoise settled beside the broken ground, leaving enough room for the Hound to pass through again. Nobody had been injured, but the delay gave the first Ridgeback enough time to regain its footing.

Linda watched its tail rise.

"Pin it." She ordered.

Ice spread over the tail and joined it to the floor almost in an instant.

The Yeti drove the creature sideways, forcing it towards the lower edge of the raised ground. Mara’s Hound rushed in and caught its exposed throat before it could break free.

The second Ridgeback backed away from Iris’s Tortoise before turning towards the broken strip.

Linda saw one of its hind legs slip between two stones.

Her Yeti could reach it before it recovered, and one more solid strike would probably bring it down.

"Storm’s group, withdraw." Lex called. "Back to the marker."

Linda looked towards him.

Mara’s Hound was already turning, while Iris began directing the Tortoise back. The Ridgeback was climbing onto the raised ground, where the uneven stones would slow the students and block their view of the right-hand approach.

Following it would take them beyond the area the professionals had assigned to them.

Linda pressed her lips together.

"Cover us." She ordered.

The Yeti lowered one arm.

Ice spread across the route the Ridgeback would need to use if it followed them, forming thick ridges beneath its claws.

Linda withdrew with Mara and Iris.

The Yeti remained between the students and the Ridgeback until all three reached the marker, then it moved back behind another short rise of ice.

"Group clear." Mara said.

Gareth stepped forward.

Linda’s Yeti was still capable of fighting. It stood beside her, ready to move again, with cold mist leaving its mouth while the professionals took control of the chamber.

She looked towards Leon.

Caleb and Nolan had given his Swordsman one side of the chamber and trusted it to handle everything there. Leon had barely needed to speak or try to reason with them about it.

Her on the other hand, her team kept needing her Yeti in different places, fighting in ways that limited her.

’Is working with a team always like this, or is it just ours?’ She wondered, a bit frustrated.

She understood why Lex had ordered them to withdraw, but that didn’t make losing the opportunity any less frustrating.

She would have liked the same freedom Leon enjoyed in his team. Thinking about it, she decided to talk to her teammates about it, that is, if she’d even be able to apply it before the teams were changed.

"Good." Lex told them. "You came back together, and the ice remained ahead of your withdrawal."

Linda nodded and dismissed the Yeti once Gareth signalled that it was safe.

...

The professionals killed the two remaining Ridgebacks.

One had followed Linda’s group far enough to struggle through the ice, while the other was still trying to get past the professional guarding the right-hand approach.

Of course, neither got close to the students.

Leon watched Gareth step over one of the fallen tails before checking the passage ahead. The other professionals inspected the chamber, while Lex told everyone to dismiss their summons while the cores were being collected and recorded.

Seth stood beside Evan and Tessa as the final container was sealed.

"Carter is making things easy for his group." Seth said.

"His summon is." Evan replied.

"It’s his summon. He knows what it can handle, and the other two are giving it room to do that."

"The Yeti was doing well too." Tessa said while looking towards Linda who was talking to Mara.

"Mmm, it was. They could use it better, though. A summon like that needs room to work, and the other two aren’t giving it enough."

Seth checked that Evan had picked up his bag.

"Still, they came back when they were told. Remember that when it’s our turn."

"We’re next?" Tessa asked.

"Perhaps. If that happens to be the case after the rest point, stay with me when we go forward. If I change targets, I’ll say who I want moving. Don’t both switch because one of you hears an instruction."

Evan nodded.

"And when we’re called back, we come back." Seth added. "We can discuss the almost-finished monster afterwards, if at all we can’t finish the job."

Leon followed Caleb and Nolan towards the next tunnel. Seth’s voice continued behind him as he made sure Evan and Tessa understood.

There was some sense in what he was telling them.

The expedition continued once Gareth gave the signal. One of the professionals checked the next relay and received a clear response before moving ahead of the students.

The tunnel widened after another bend.

Several surveyed passages met at a broad junction, with numbered plates fixed beside the openings and blue arrows showing their approved route.

There was enough level ground for everyone to stop without blocking any of the passages.

"Rest here." Lex said.

Caleb and Nolan sat together near one wall, while Leon chose a flat rock nearby and took out his water while the professionals spread around the junction.