No one challenged Cynrik's authority, and as requested, Brance and Benny quickly finished their coffee and dragged Kurza off to the training room for morning warm-ups.
As predicted by Cynrik, it was another 45 minutes before Gabby and Melody emerged from their rooms, and at some point, Selene had woken up and disappeared to change into her training clothes.
Once the girls had finished their coffee, they quickly hurried off to join the likes of Brance, Benny, and Kurza in morning warm-ups. By the time they finished the usual 30-minute session, Cynrik had walked into the training room in a pair of black jogger pants and a matching black sleeveless shirt.
Seeing that everyone was wrapping their warm-ups, he quickly jumped in and did a modified yet shortened version, and 10 minutes later was ready for the team morning workout.
When they finished the hour-long sparring session, everyone returned to their rooms to shower and get dressed. The timing couldn't have been better because by the time MyrkLys reconvened in the living room for a team meeting, Geralt, Rimsfel, and Garrison had messaged Cynrik, informing him they were outside the front door and requested to be let in.
"I half expected all of you to still be in your pajamas when we finally arrived," Geralt said with an awkward laugh as he observed Cynrik's handy work and cried internally. With how much had changed, Geralt knew he would be forced to pay a significant amount out-of-pocket to cover the condo's damages.
Pushing that thought to the back of his mind due to circumstances, Geralt observed the outward expressions of MykrLys to get a read on how they were feeling.
Contrary to what an outsider would expect, there wasn't an ounce of nervousness on any of the main members' faces, leaving the odd man out, Kurza, who, although he had competed in last year's event, was a bit fidgety, a sign of evident anxiety.
"Sometimes it amazes me how much you lot from MyrkLys contrast other students," Geralt said upon thinking further on his findings.
"I visited the Tier-1 and Tier-2 Teams this morning since they go on first, and each student showed a lot of fear and anxiety, whereas you are calm and focused." Geralt then glanced at Cynrik, who shrugged his shoulders.
"It's not like we are jumping into an Egress or fighting in a war. This whole event is nothing more than a bunch of kids playing video games, in my opinion. What is there to be nervous about?" Ignoring Kurza's state of mind, Cynrik held up his hands and spoke his mind.
"You do realize a lot is riding on victory…right? Aside from the promotional value for the Academy, our yearly allocation of resources is on the line. Your placement at the end of the event determines our government subsidies of resources at the beginning of next year, not to mention top-cut prizes."
"You have nothing to worry about, Geralt. You saw how we did in the mock battles and events; you know there isn't anyone in our bracket who can come close to matching our results. Aside from maybe one or two individuals, there isn't a single team we will be facing in the next couple of weeks that will be a challenge." Raising his mug to his lips, Cynrik took a sip of coffee before continuing to speak.
"Now then, our first opponents, Romeoville Academy, are one-trick ponies. Each member of their Tier-3 team is a fourth-year student, and according to the information I gathered, they are running the same lineup as last year."
"Considering their lackluster showing in getting knocked out by round three, they are a low-threat opponent. I have also already decided on the lineup for our three events." Upon Cynrik saying this, Geralt's ears perked up.
"The point structure in the early rounds is quite annoying, but I have a stable lineup to earn us the most with the smallest amount of effort."
"Starting with Swarm, the first event will have Brance and me competing. Our two hardest hitters will take the lead as the event yields the most points. Of the 20 points available, ten can be earned in Swarm alone, meaning we must put on a good showing."
"The second event of the day is Search, Retrieve, Destroy. Although the point yield is only five points, if we want to earn full marks, we need to beat Romeovilles Time. I want to say this one is in the bag, like with Swarm, but it isn't."
"The reason being, in last year's event, they held the fastest completion time of anyone in the Competition. Two factors made their impressive completion time come to fruition. The first is because all seven of their team members have one or more types of location skills/abilities. These location skills/abilities allowed them to find their target within the first minute of their matches and have an accurate headcount of enemies."
"The second factor was their leader, Derrek Gislain's Space Affinity. Upon pinpointing the enemy, he made a teleportation gate. He continuously teleported the team until they reached the target location, where they split up and razed the enemy encampment to the ground within ten minutes, with their final time being 10 Hours 31 minutes ."
"For comparison's sake, the 2nd fastest time of that year was 12 hours, 17 minutes, 15 seconds. Meanwhile, our shortest time on record in training was 12 hours, 25 minutes, and 18 seconds. Mind you, we were at Tier-2 during those mock events, and our stats are significantly higher now."
Cynrik paused for a moment to read the room, and like before, the only people uncomfortable or anxious were Geralt, Rimsfel, and Kurza.
Since Garrison had spent weeks alongside MyrkLys, he had a rough idea of the team's potential, so even with the numbers against them, he was certain Cynrik already had come up with a plan to ensure victory.
"Heh, by my estimates, if we go all out, there is no reason we can't break Romeovilles record. The problem with going all out is that we risk exposing our cards too soon to the other teams, so although this is the easiest and most surefire way to capture the five points necessary, it isn't optimal."
"Unfortunately, I won't be able to make an accurate judgment call until I see what map we spawn; at that time, I will construct the plan on the fly, so be ready."
"The third and final event of the first round is Accuracy, Gabby, Melody; this one is on you. Since it is the only game centered around ranged attacks and, well… accurately shooting targets, the two of you are responsible for gaining the last five points we need for advancement." With that, Cynrik fell silent after observing his group's reactions and looked back at the nervous Geralt.
"Sigh, would it kill you to act your age for once? You're a kid, you should be bouncing off the walls in excitement to be on TV competing in the biggest event of the year, yet here you are, being overly analytical of everything. Fine, if that is how you plan on handling round one, I have no opposition; what about you, Garrison?" Shaking his head and looking at his employee, Geralt asked.
"I have nothing to say about Cynrik's strategy; however, I want to add something since it was passed down to us this morning by the Event Organization Staff."
"For the first time, a bonus point system has been implemented. If a Team breaks any previous National Records in any event, they will receive an additional 10 points. I expect this will work in your favor Cynrik, especially if you plan on beating the record set by Romeoville last year."
Hearing Garrison's news, Cynrik's lips curved into a twisted smile. "Innnnteresting~," he said while setting his coffee mug down on the table in front of the couch and leaning forward while showing emotion for the first time since Garrison arrived.
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