Chapter 60: Teams…

“So, most of you probably already know this, but how do you form a team?” Cressida asked, walking out of the blob of B tiers in the center of the room, heading toward the center of one of the gym’s sides. Then she stood, waiting.

And no one answered… all two hundred or something of us just awkwardly stood there in silence while Cressida scanned the room waiting for a response. It was so uncomfortable. I felt like she was making eye contact with me for like ten seconds while I tried my best to look away, hoping I wouldn’t be picked… even though it didn’t seem like she was planning to pick anyone.

Staring at the fascinating wall behind her with my hands awkwardly playing with the hem of my shirt I started sweating for absolutely no reason. I wasn’t the weird one! Everyone was silent. No one was speaking, but it felt like the world was waiting for me. And thank god it wasn’t because then I’d be dying—

Melody’s hand touched my shoulder. I spun around, and looked at her with an eyebrow raised, the whole room pushed away and me completely confused yet mesmerized by her presence. Why did she touch me?

Why is she still touching me?

Why does saying “touch” suddenly make me horny? Damn it.

Melody’s smile brought my mind out of the gutter, except the smile wasn’t toward me. She was looking at Cressida. Then she spoke, chuckling. “With people.”

“Melody, shut!” Cressida snapped back, then shook her head and refined her question. “What three fields of study form a dungeon team? Someone shout them out. You should all know this.”

Melody squeezed my shoulder a little, and I was very confused. Was she trying to comfort me? Or was she trying to make me uncomfortable? I mean… seeing everyone around us… and her touching me here… so… public. Fuck… but also… she’s so distracting. It’s hard to focus on the whole public part when I can feel every little pulse of her muscles run through my shoulder… down my arms… I don’t even know what to feel! I’m so confused… ughhh…

“Offense, defense, and support?” someone from the B or C tier or somewhere shouted out.

Cressida happily replied, “Yes! Now, what does a basic team composition look like, the one we expect of all of you? Someone else.”

I felt Melody's hand shift a little again… and my mind ran through more hoops. What if I’m overthinking this? Maybe she just felt like touching my shoulder, since that’s like… a normal thing. Just leaning on someone a little. It’s a normal thing. Not even for lovers, just friends. That’s why no one really cares, no one has said anything. No one’s noticed.

Gah! Stupid. Now I have a third option to think through! Either she’s trying to comfort me, thanks. Make me uncomfortable, also thanks. Or she’s just being a normal friend, also thanks. What the fuck is it?!

“Two attack, two tank, and two support,” someone else from somewhere else shouted out.

“Yes,” Cressida began, then continued, “But what roles specifically? They aren’t… well… mostly aren’t requirements, but recommended.”

There’s requirements? I wonder if we actually fulfill them or if Melody used some rich-person privilege. I can’t say our team seems very diverse. Our tanks… well I guess tanks don’t have diversity. The support… okay yeah that’s diverse. The damage, well, we lack someone for specifically close range. Although either can fulfill it… our team isn’t very diverse in variety, but our skill sets apply to a diverse range of stuff… I think…

“A healer?” Someone from across the room very quietly replied.

“Yes, that’s the required one.” Cressida nodded. “Every team must have someone capable of healing others. What about the tanks?”

I wonder what percent of support have healers. How much prestige does being a healer give you? Would it let me… like… control… people? If I wasn’t Melody’s… of course… Maybe. Just refuse to heal… unless they beg or something. Or lick feet. I kinda wonder what that feels like. Having slimy slobbery tongues on your feet.

“There aren’t requirements?” Once more, some random person answered Cressida’s question.

Melody’s also still holding onto my shoulder. I like it… but it is kinda weird, you know? And I can’t stop thinking about it, which is kind of the problem. I can’t focus on what Cressida’s discussing.

“Correct,” Cressida confirmed. “Sorry to my tanks out there, but tanks are tanks. Nothing special. Damage on the other hand?”

Melody’s hand left my shoulder. And now it felt weird that there wasn’t a hand there. What the fuck body?! Why do you do this to me?! Just be normal! Can’t focus with Melody, can’t focus without Melody… oh the pain… the painful woes of… love?

“Close and far range?” Someone with a surprisingly deep voice answered.

“Good guess,” Cressida replied, then continued. “On the right track, but no. It’s not that specific.”

Immediately, the same deep-voiced person replied. “All ranges?”

“Yes!” Cressida shouted with a sudden, brief, nod. More like a single head bang, making her hair fly widely. “For all ranges, close, medium, and far, your team must have someone capable of attacking. Anyone know why?”

No one did. Other than that being able to attack anywhere makes sense. That is the reason right? It’s just so you can always attack… it has to be.

“I’ll let you think on that one,” Cressida decided, having been faced with silence for a couple minutes. Then she offered a new, far easier, question. “Anyone know why healers are needed?”

“So you don’t die,” like five people answered at once.

“Basically.” Cressida nodded one, two, three, four, five… six, seven times. Not headbanging this time, just normal calm nods. A lot of them. “Professional teams always have at least one healer per ten people, usually it's closer to one per six. Healers are invaluable. When there aren’t healers, what happens?”

“Everyone dies?” someone accurately proposed. Everyone is helpless without healers… which means normal healers have power. I wonder how many corrupt healers used their abilities for sex… I’m too horny. The world is too horny. I swear I’m not trying to think of sex, it’s just everywhere!

“No,” Cressida said sharply, before explaining. “No one dies, because no one raids. No professional team will ever allow a raid if there isn’t a healer. In fact, many countries, Solstice included, don’t even allow guilds to raid without healers, subject to severe fines if they do.”

Fines… I’m sure that’s effective. Not that anyone would raid without a healer anyway… And you know, fines totally work for all the big businesses, and things like child labor, and shipping cheap shitty goods, and worker’s rights violations… yeah. Fines are good. I mean, the government needs money somehow, right?

At least it’s better here than in some democracies. Here the emperor can actually do stuff by just saying “no” to the more severe violations. Companies usually listen. There’s a major difference between fighting some characteristic thing that doesn’t really have a real physical presence and a person whose word is law, and who has an entire nation, and I guess another business, Celestria, that willingly and happily enforces their every word. I think. I don’t really know how willingly and happily things are going, but I haven’t heard anything bad, so…

“So what about tanks?” Cressida continued.

“So… you don’t die?” Someone proposed accurately. People really understand why teams exist. So people don’t die. Simple as that. Not everyone can do everything, so some don’t and they let other people do the stuff they can’t so they don’t all die and then everyone can do what they’re good at and… I’m confused. Uh. Wait. No… it makes sense. Do what you’re good at, let others do the rest.

“Spot on.” Cressida nodded. “Without a tank, who’s going to absorb damage?”

“The attackers.” Some other person replied.

Makes sense. If there’s no tanks, the next in line is the attackers, since you can’t let the healers and support die… dang is support actually the most powerful? Damage always seems like the strongest, but support has the most power over everyone… of course I’m the strongest regardless, once I catch up to Melody’s level.

“Exactly.” Cressida nodded again. “The general rule is, if fighting something of at least fifty percent of your strength, you must have a tank. It’s a bit more vague due to variances in systems, but the principle is there. Don’t fight what you can’t easily defeat.”

Fifty percent still seems high, doesn’t it? If something is at your strength… then they’d do as much damage as you… and have the same health… so… Actually, what am I thinking? If they do half as much damage and have half as much health, you’d never lose. Fifty percent is plenty. It’s like one-fourth the strength, not half.

“Finally, back to the attackers.” Cressida returned to the first question she asked. “Why must there be someone of each range?”

This time, someone replied almost immediately. That someone was Silvia. “Traps.”

“Yes!” Cressida’s eyes shot over to us, well, Silvia, but it looked like she was staring at me… even though she wasn’t. “If, god forbid, the team gets stuck in a trap, assuming it doesn’t kill you, you must be able to attack all ranges to escape. Anyone know why?”

Someone else took the opportunity to answer. Someone from the C tier section, surprisingly. Although I guess system’s don’t really have anything to do with theory. “Some traps are weak… close range can attack. Some have mechanisms that would need to be hit, probably medium range. Some are controlled by monsters, so really could be any range.”

“Yes.” Cressida nodded a final time. “The principle stretches beyond just traps of course, but the general idea is to never be hopeless. Unless people are already dead of course. Luckily, it’s not a hard slot to fill, as most attackers are capable of at least a couple different ranges, if not all.”

And then, she sat down.