Chapter 72: Assessment (Patreon)

https://docs.google.com/document/d/120jP1kcJzSudNgtp092ru0vKVKJrgl7sA_vg3T8QprE/edit?usp=sharing

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“Let’s review how you did,” Instructor Barry stated as he gestured to the seats filling the classroom. The dullahan was leaning against the desk at the front of the room, and Cayden followed his teammates to file into their chairs. “But before we get to my notes: how do you think you did? It’s no good if I’m just telling you everything you need ta know.”

Unsurprisingly, Velic was the first to speak up. “Overall, I’d say we did well. We defeated the monster quickly with minimal injuries, and other than when Cayden was trapped under the lokusa, there wasn’t any moment when we were in serious danger. We perhaps could have made better use of Delphia and Marvenal’s skills, and I personally feel I could have killed it quicker than I did – it was surprisingly resistant to my attacks – but overall, I believe it was a promising debut for our team.”

Instructor Barry listened quietly to Velic’s assessment, and nodded when he was done. “How ‘bout the rest of you? Any thoughts?”

Delphia, Marvenal, and Cayden stayed silent.

Privately, Cayden agreed with Velic. It was messier than it might have needed to be, what with the surprising initial jump of the monster and him getting temporarily trapped, but it checked the boxes of what Cayden used to identify a ‘successful’ dungeon run: killed the monster, had no major injuries or near misses with major injuries, and did it all at a respectably quick pace.

Of course, from his earlier words, it was clear the instructor didn’t have as positive of reception to their performance, so Cayden kept his agreement with Velic silent.

“I’ll take that as agreeing with yer teammate, then,” Instructor Barry said when it was clear the rest didn’t have anything to add. “With that assessment in mind, what can you learn from the test? If you were to do it again, what would you do differently? And how can those lessons be applied to other monsters or delves?”

Velic waited a few seconds before responding to this one, giving his teammates an opportunity to jump in. But eventually, when it was clear the rest had no desire to respond, he spoke up.

“If we were to fight against another lokusa, I think we would be able to adjust our strategy. It wouldn’t work if we didn’t know what monster we were fighting beforehand, of course, but it’s clear Cayden is largely immune to anything…”

As the noble boy expounded, Cayden considered the instructor’s question. He still believed that they had performed well against the monster, especially considering they’d been thrown into their teams less than an hour earlier, but, as a whole, he knew the fight could have gone better. He was having trouble articulating to himself what specifically was wrong, though.

“...so I think we’ll be able to improve with time and by composing pre-planned responses to different monster types.”

Instructor Barry nodded and once again looked to the rest of the team for their impressions, only to once again be met with silence.

“Well, then I guess it’s time for my feedback, then. Let’s start with the good,” he said. “Velic, your skills are a credit to your father, and you use them masterfully for your age. Lokusa’s carapaces are renowned for their defense against elemental attacks, and you were able to burn through it in just over a minute. Cayden, your durability is some of the best I’ve ever seen from a student your age, and you haven’t fallen behind in your other stats to get there.” From the corner of his eye, Cayden noticed Velic looking at him speculatively. “You didn’t panic when you were in a tough situation, and you managed to hold the lokusa’s focus for the entirety of the battle, keeping your teammates safe while striking the first crippling blow to its leg. Marvenal and Delphia, you weren’t able to shine as much in this fight, but you, Marvenal, followed up with Cayden’s attack to completely cripple the lokusa’s long-range mobility. And Delphia, Instructor Tilda has informed me of your willpower and drive, which you showed in your lack of hesitation in charging towards danger to heal your teammates – something that usually takes a lot of time and training to beat out of most healers. Individually, y’all are some of the most powerful students in your respective classes in your cohort, and you displayed that in the arena today.”

Velic was sitting up straight in his chair with a smug smile on his face, Delphia was slightly less hunched in her own chair, and even Marvenal had a slight curve to the edge of his mouth. But Cayden couldn’t find it in himself to get excited at the praise – he had grown to understand Instructor Barry’s teaching style too well over the last few weeks, and he could feel the but coming.

And true to his expectations, Barry didn’t allow them to sit in their pride for long.

“However,” he said, his congratulatory smile disappearing as if it had never been. “Your battle was not meant to test your individual abilities. It was meant to test your skills as a team. And in that area, your performance was…not as good.” His gaze drifted across Cayden and his suddenly much less pleased-looking teammates. “Which of you know what a lokusa is?”

Velic and Marvenal hesitantly raised their hands.

“It would’ve only taken a few seconds after the doors opened for you to tell your teammates about the monster. If Cayden had known its abilities, it wouldn’t’ve been able to catch him by surprise with its jump. Also, lokusas’ blood is extremely caustic. It wasn’t an issue with the way your skill killed it, Velic, but what if Cayden’s claws had been able to cut it? Just a few seconds spent talking could’ve avoided that risk completely. And Cayden,” he turned to face the gargoyle. “You didn’t give your teammates a chance to explain after seeing your opponent. You charged in the moment the doors opened, assuming you knew what was best for the fight.” Cayden opened his mouth to protest, but Instructor Barry continued before he had a chance. “There’re times when decisiveness is needed. But when the monster is relatively docile on the opposite side of the arena? And you’re working with a brand new team? Clear communication is much more important.”

Instructor Barry looked at Velic. “Your skills allow you to attack with extreme precision. And you saw yer teammates take advantage of the lokusa’s main weakness, its legs. Yet your attacks were completely focused on killing it as fast as possible. It woulda only taken a few seconds for you to take out the lokusa’s other four legs, and it woulda been helpless. You were given unlimited time to defeat a single opponent, but you traded the safety of your teammates for speed in killing the monster.” He turned to Marvenal. “You had a flanking position and perfect opportunity to do the same to the rest of its legs with your blades. But you fell back after removing the lokusa’s ability to jump. Protecting the little duke might be yer job, but if you want help on that job from yer teammates, it can’t be your only job. You gotta help them if ya want help in return.” Something dark crossed Velic’s face at the words ‘little duke’, but his expression cleared almost before Cayden registered its presence, once more looking earnestly at their instructor. “And Delphia,” Instructor Barry said, turning to their healer, who shrunk back into her seat and the shadows around it. “You probably did the best today with the skills you’ve got. And it’s not my place to tell you how to optimize yer build – you’ve got other teachers for that. But I will say this: if Cayden had been one of many other frontliner students crushed by the lokusa? And Cassius weren’t there? He’d a been dead long before you’d have gotten the chance to heal him. There’s a reason pretty much all healers have a ranged healing skill, and it ain’t purely out of fear of gettin’ their hands dirty. With only touch-based healing, it’ll take more than just willpower and the power of your healing skill to be effective.”

He leaned back against the desk, his head wobbling atop his neck, and looked over the thoroughly-chastised students. “I’ve got a few other things, but I think that’s enough for now. I’ll be meeting with you the first day of each week at eighth bell, but I’d suggest you all set up some other times to train together, too. Now, if you don’t have any questions…” he waited patiently for anyone to speak up, and was met with silence. He nodded. “Have a good day.” Without looking back, the instructor stood straight and strode confidently from the room.

The four students remained in their seats, stunned into silence from the whiplash of Instructor Barry’s praise, rebukes, and abrupt departure.

Was he right? Cayden thought to himself. Instructor Barry’s assessment had been brutal, but how much of that assessment was accurate versus exaggeration with the intention to motivate? Cayden wasn’t particularly adept at social manipulation, but he’d been exposed enough to people attempting to ‘motivate’ him through criticism to be familiar with the strategy. It had been a favorite method of Dryson’s and plenty of others in his past life, and in his experience, it rarely worked as well as those using it hoped.

But was that really what was happening here? Instructor Barry was rough around the edges, but he wasn’t unintelligent. His few verbal lessons in the frontline combat class were enough to prove that. While everything the instructor had stated about their performance was true, was it really as bad as he made it out to be?

It was a mistake to charge in as quickly as he did. Cayden recognized that, and it was an easy enough problem to fix for their next test. And the other criticisms Instructor Barry brought up all seemed equally valid. But at the end of the day, they’d defeated the monster without getting hurt – wasn’t that the end goal?

Disjointed.

That was the word he’d been looking for to describe their fight, and it came to him like a strike of lightning. It was what Cayden thought Instructor Barry was trying to point out with his criticisms, though Cayden wasn’t sure why he didn’t just come out and say it. It had taken him so long to put his finger on it, simply because that was the way all his fights with teams had felt. Every delve he’d been on with Elise and a different team from Avernon, that was the common factor. They were all disjointed. And he might not have realized it if not for his recent delve with Jeremy.

Their skillsets had almost no synergy, being both frontliners, yet they had fought the eleczards with much better coordination than Cayden had with anyone he had worked with before, save Elise. Most of that could be attributed to Jeremy’s skill, but the fact that he had the same level of coordination with Elise proved that such a skill wasn’t required. But his new team didn’t have over a decade to become familiar with each other’s personalities and skills to reach the same level of teamwork that Cayden had with Elise. They were still practically strangers – how were they expected to work seamlessly together after meeting less than two weeks earlier?

It was a question Cayden continued to ponder as he and his teammates slowly stood from their desks and silently filed from the classroom.

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