At the sound of the siren, the offence team nodded at each other and set out, leaving Elena alone at their base.

Maya took a mental note of Ula being very eager and dependable. Since Maya was too shy to step up, Ula became their de facto leader. Although it seemed like she was simply ready to act on her team member's suggestions.

Maya and six other classmates made for a strong team, superior in numbers. They quickly approached the nearest opponent base to test how they fare.

"Knock, knock. We're coming in!" Frankie, one of their two fire members, said as the two fire mage boys blasted a hole in the poorly barricaded base entrance.

Four students inside were caught off guard. As seven students poured in, they never stood a chance. The Zeta group team wreaked havoc and secured the enemy flag, storming out with ecstasy.

Maya had a good time. Although they didn't have solid teamwork, they overwhelmed them with power. It was a good start and left them hungry for more.

"The two of us will take it back to our base, and the rest of you continue," one girl said with her friend already in hand.

"No, wait. Is it really a good idea to take it back?" Ula questioned.

"I think we should continue further with the flag." Payton, one of their air mages, said.

They sparked a discussion.

"Right. Why leave it with Elena if she's just going to lose it when someone comes to attack?"

Maya hated to agree.

"Yes, it's better if we defend it while taking another one, then get to our base when we capture enough at once."

They silently agreed and quickly arrived at the next base. This one was unoccupied. It seemed their flag was already stolen, so all members were out to capture it back. There was nothing to do there, so they moved on.

While they wandered through labyrinth-like paths, searching for the next base to attack, they found one opening before them. They couldn't yet see the ones guarding it, but the flag was clearly visible, tempting them like easy prey set for them.

"Sweet!" Frankie announced as he went to skip toward it.

Maya squinted as she had a strange feeling about this one. Bases were already marked on the map they had, and she didn't remember seeing one set like this.

Leo suddenly warned, "It's a trap!"

"Crap!" Maya cursed as she quickly waved at her teammates to move. "They're in the walls!"

Like on cue, the walls around them burst into pieces, showing they were a thin façade made by an earth mage student skilled in sculpting. And they would've been bamboozled if it weren't for Maya's secret insight from the second pair of eyes.

"Damn it! How did she know?" Someone was frustrated their plan didn't play out accordingly.

"Stick to the plan! Be ready to improvise!" a familiar voice directed them, and Maya suddenly felt that foiling their ambush didn't give them much of an advantage.

"Fuck! It's Kasper's team!" Frankie seemed to realize this as well.

Their year rep was a commendable leader and a mage. It was immediately clear the opposing team was a well-oiled machine with excellent teamwork that had set itself on stealing the flag Maya's team carried with them.

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This time, the clever strategy of numerical superiority didn't pay off, because Kasper's team had all eight members present. Judging by that, the flag set up as a lure and the two more on Kasper's back clearly showed they had seen through the rule's flaw, just like Elena did, and made their entire base mobile.

As long as they made it in time to return their flags to their posts, they were free to roam around at full capacity.

"Retreat!" Maya yelled out. "Don't let them eat a free meal!"

At her command, her team engaged in scrambling for a tactical retreat, getting on the defensive to prevent them from capturing their spoils.

Even though the superiors might have arranged for Kasper to have weaker mages at his disposal, the critical difference lay in leadership. Kasper knew exactly what each of his team members could and couldn't do. Maya, on the other hand, didn't even know some of her classmates' names.

This was a battle they couldn't win.

Here, a genuine elemental confrontation had begun. Both teams had a clear objective. One was to capture, the other to flee.

Her team automatically split in two—one to run with the flag while the other to divert their pursuers. Maya found herself working with Ula as a team, attempting to hold back their opponents.

Drawing all the water she had with her, Maya formed it into the shape of whips she swung around like tentacles. It was a move she stole from Elena, but there was nothing wrong with utilizing something that worked. Leo was her eyes on the back, warning her about any dangers she was unable to focus on.

Ula proved exceptional at assisting. With her help, Maya gained incredible mobility and elusiveness, setting herself in advantageous positions to strike back. Their pairing was a match made in heaven. None other than Maya—already an air mage, despite foregoing air in this game—could follow up with Ula's ramps and springboard pillars.

On top of that, Maya would use her Soul Vision to determine the elements she was up against. It required deep focus, but Maya has trained herself to access its limited capabilities in quick succession. She could vaguely read the intent of magic, its flow, before it manifested, making her able to predict the scale and direction of her opponent's moves, disrupting their stances.

They were giving their inexperienced opponents a difficult time.

On top of the situation, Kasper changed his commands and went against the pair personally.

Kasper was known as Invisible Flame. Unlike flashy fire, his flames weren't explosive or ostentatious but subtle. At times, you didn't even see them. Yet he could melt through anything—even cause non-combustible and heat-resistant materials to dissolve, cutting through them as easily as a knife through butter. It was as if he could galvanize anything.

After all the experience of chasing Elena around the academy to reprimand her, an airborne water mage was nothing to him.

Kicking a hole through Ula's latest earth support pillar, Kasper made it crumble, and Maya lost her foothold. It wouldn't be as effective if Maya switched to air manipulation, but for fairness's sake, she vowed only to use water.

Her water whips would quickly vaporise and, with Kasper approaching, Maya felt as if she were trying to fight a thunderstorm. The intent of his magic was obscured by the sheer power that seemed to surge forward but was unseen in the actual action.

Fighting him, Maya completely forgot about the game and kept focusing on what her other eye could see. This was a rare opportunity to study Kasper in action. She had categorized him in the same deviant category as Elena — type C.

However, she was still unable to discern why those two were talented while other students she determined as the same type seemed to have cursed luck. Other type C students were in great panic as the first trimester was coming to an end. No one wanted to be sent to the slums, and they were some of the worst-performing mages.

Kasper didn't waste any time. It seemed he was there to occupy Maya to prevent her from occupying his other team members. And Maya, immersed in their duel, forgot she had a different objective.

His flames would meet her water barriers with a hiss, turning into a cloud of steam that temporarily obscured the field. Then Maya would struggle to recapture it, keeping her reserves.

He would skilfully avoid anything she'd throw at him, and her Soul Vision wasn't giving her any advantage. While the two were stuck at a stalemate, Kasper's team was slowly gaining on Maya's, and the flag bearers were cornered.

Suddenly, another team burst in, causing complete chaos.

It was only a matter of time. Since Kasper's team had already captured many flags, that meant many other teams were willing to cooperate to recapture their lost ones. While his team was occupied by their conquest, with time for the game to end nearing, others were becoming desperate.

Taking advantage of the commotion, Maya quickly instructed her team to run. Looking back, she saw Lauren, another highly skilled water mage who could challenge her for the Harvester position, engaging with Kasper.

Steam clouds, even denser than before, were created, providing the Zeta team sufficient cover to slip away. and they succeeded in evading their loss.

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