Chapter 18: Team

After class, Asher received another lecture from Elisa, who eventually let him go with a warning.

After that, all his classes went smoothly as usual—no trouble.

Evening — Cafeteria

Asher was sitting with Aria and Noah.

Noah asked, "So, how did your cooking class go?"

"My restaurant would probably get shut down for poisoning customers if I ever opened one," Asher replied with a sigh.

"Your cooking is that bad?" Noah asked.

"Yeah."

"What about you?" Asher asked.

"We were taught about edible vegetation and the nature of beasts," Noah replied.

Both of them then turned toward Aria.

"It went well," Aria said in an indifferent tone.

They finished their dinner in silence and then went to sleep.

Next Day — Classroom

Elisa entered the classroom.

"Today, you will tell me your profession so I can assign everyone into teams for the upcoming survival test," she said.

The students then began stating their roles one by one—tank, swordsman, mage, and so on.

Noah went first. "Tank. Sword user. Earth attribute."

Leon followed. "Swordsman. Main element: light."

Celestine spoke next. "Mage. Lightning attribute."

Kevin added, "Mage. Dark magic."

Aria also spoke. "Mage. Mind spells."

Then it was Asher’s turn.

Everyone turned to look at him.

"Assassin and healer," Asher said.

brief silence followed his words.

A few students blinked, clearly unsure if they had heard him correctly.

Elisa raised a brow. "Assassin and healer?"

"Yes," Asher replied casually.

Murmurs started spreading across the classroom.

"Isn’t that a weird combination?"

"How can someone even train both?"

"Assassin types are usually physical... healer is completely opposite..."

Noah leaned slightly toward Asher and whispered, "That’s... actually impressive, or just risky."

"Both," Asher said without looking at him.

Elisa tapped the board lightly, bringing the room back to order.

"Interesting," she said. "Dual-role professions are rare, especially one involving healing and assassination."

Her gaze lingered on Asher for a moment before she continued.

"This changes your team placement."

She began writing names on the board, dividing the class into groups.

Aria glanced at Asher briefly, her expression still unreadable. "You never mentioned that before."

"You never asked," Asher replied.

Noah exhaled. "Of course he didn’t."

Elisa finished the list and turned back to the class.

"Survival test teams are now assigned. You’ll rely on each other—regardless of your roles.

Weak coordination will mean elimination."

The classroom grew quieter at that.

Asher leaned back in his seat, eyes half-lidded. "Sounds like trouble."

Elisa clapped her hands once to get everyone’s attention.

"The team assignments will be sent to you through notifications," she said. "The survival test will be held next week."

A wave of murmurs spread across the classroom immediately.

"Next week already?"

"That’s barely any time to prepare..."

Elisa ignored the reaction and continued, "Use this time wisely. Your performance will depend on teamwork, not individual strength."

She closed her register and turned away.

"Class dismissed."

5 PM

Training Ground

Aria stood with her usual expressionless face.

Noah was standing a short distance away from her, looking nervous.

The third member was a boy with orange hair, Adam Windrake.

Aria said, "He still hasn’t come."

Then Asher entered with his usual carefree expression.

"Why are you late?" Aria asked in an indifferent tone.

"I’m only five minutes late. No big deal."

"But our team formation is weird," Asher said.

"It feels intentional instead of actually trying to balance the teams."

"It’s too much of a coincidence that you two and that wind guy ended up on my team."

After being called "wind guy," Adam wanted to say something, but stopped himself, thinking it would be futile to argue with him.

"And why are there only four of us? Weren’t teams supposed to have five members?" Asher asked.

"To make it fair, the teams with more high-ranking students only have four members. There are a total of seven teams. Two teams have five members, while the other five teams have four," Aria explained.

"What a weird way to make teams," Asher said.

Then Noah asked, "Since when did you start caring about teams and tests? And why are you being so talkative today?"

"Because it was getting boring, so I thought maybe it’s time to have some fun during this test. And since everybody already knows my strength, there’s no need to hide anymore."

Noah looked bewildered and said, "I can’t understand you anymore."

Asher shrugged lightly. "You never understood me to begin with."

Noah opened his mouth to reply, then stopped. After thinking about it for a moment, he realized arguing was pointless.

Adam finally spoke. "Can we focus on the test instead?"

Asher glanced at him. "Oh, the wind guy can talk."

A vein twitched on Adam’s forehead.

"My name is Adam Windrake."

"Good for you."

"You were better off quite like before "

Noah quickly stepped between them before things escalated. "Anyway, shouldn’t we discuss our roles first?"

Aria nodded slightly. "That would be more productive."

She looked toward Adam first.

"Long-range support," Adam said. "Wind magic specializes in mobility and area control."

"Meaning he blows people away dramatically," Asher added.

Adam ignored him this time.

Noah crossed his arms. "I’m front defense. I can hold enemies in place and protect the group."

Aria spoke next. "Mid-to-long-range magic support. Mind spells work best if the target loses focus."

Then all three looked at Asher.

He placed a hand on his chest dramatically. "I stab people."

Silence.

"And heal allies," he added afterward.

"You said that part way too late," Noah muttered.

Asher smirked faintly. "You’ll survive."

Aria stared at him for a few seconds before speaking. "Your fighting style is unpredictable."

"That’s usually the point of assassination."

"No," Aria replied calmly. "I meant your personality."

Noah looked away, trying not to laugh.

Adam sighed. "Can we at least train properly? The test is next week."

"Agreed," Aria said.

She created several floating targets with magic around the field.

"We should first evaluate everyone’s combat ability."

Asher immediately took a step back. "Sounds exhausting."

"You’re participating," Aria said instantly.

"Cruel."

Noah suddenly asked, "Wait... if you’re both assassin and healer, which one are you actually better at?"

Asher thought for a moment.

"Healing."

The answer surprised all of them.

"It’s just that I practiced healing more and haven’t had many chances to kill people, so my assassination skills aren’t as developed," Asher said casually.