Leoios had to admit, he made a mistake.

  As the scion of the Velius, he was always under intense pressure to succeed—his family traced its roots back to an ancient Sentinel and they had served Remus with distinction ever since. Being the leader of Ranger Team 1 had a certain weight, but he had never been satisfied even if his kin were impressed. At last, he had an opportunity to advance once again—one of the veteran Rangers in Ranger Command planned to retire. He just had to overcome another man who curried favor with the Emperor, which meant he needed to cement his name as the best candidate to all Ranger Commanders and the Sentinels.

  Republius planted the seeds, as a proper subordinate should. The offer to become a Sentinel had nearly pulled Leoios away from the plan, but no—Ranger Command spoke to him far more. They were in a bind since Nature’s apprentice refused to succeed him, but Leoios would never accept being a second or third string choice. His destiny was greater. Ranger Team 13 was his best shot; all he needed to do was gather a team of the best of the best and prove his leadership was unmatched. Not that the plan was without its complications—out the gate he only got three of his ideal candidates (not counting Republius) and he was forced to take a graduate from the Academy. Three of his precious slots were stand-ins.

  And then Sentinel Hunting appeared while Leoios was in the midst of trying to figure out just how badly luck of the draw had screwed him over. For a Sentinel to take such deep interest in a new graduate? To restrict her? Leoios had no doubt in his mind what it meant: the Sentinels were on his side and were showing it by entrusting him with a future Sentinel. If he could just find a grand feat to bring her forward, his road to Ranger Command would be paved with gold. It was how Commander Julius had come to be promoted, straight from leading lesser teams.

  And yet life hadn’t worked out quite so neatly. Grand feats were in short supply. Ranger Mettlea had proven unworthy of his glowing record. Ranger Secundia was, frankly, wildly unsuited to be a Ranger (he would have to make changes to the Academy’s standards once he became a Commander, to prevent others like her). And most annoying of all, the prospective Sentinel was young and headstrong, which left her prone to poor judgment. …She also was clearly involved in less than legal activities as well, which were always difficult to tolerate and ignore.

  The corruption of the guards looked good for him, but it wasn’t a grand feat for a Sentinel. Just as he began to question if he would ever find anything suitable, a monster attacked Massilix almost as soon as they arrived. At last Seira had smiled upon him. This wasn’t a crisis—it was an opportunity.

  The plan was straightforward. He needed to have Ranger Ranthia hang back until the beast was weakened, then she could strike the decisive blow and reveal her full capabilities to the team. It would be a feat that would no doubt reach Command’s ears long before his own report ever did.

  At first, it seemed that the team was failing him. While it was true that the monster was tricky to fight since it kept itself concealed in a—if Ranger Ranthia’s odd [Identify] variant could be trusted—Dark cloud of Steam… He was still unimpressed with his Rangers’ performances, at least at first.

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  Unfortunately, it seemed that in truth he had underestimated the beast; that was a miscalculation on his part that he could no longer deny.

  When Ranger Ranthia went down—after going rogue—he was forced to reevaluate. She had suffered the kind of blow that would either be shrugged off or was instantly fatal. The best decision he could make was to disengage.

  “Retrieve her body. We fall back.” Leoios called out, confident that Republius would hear and act. The man was the ideal embodiment of a second in command, after all.

  He pressed his own attack to buy time. He was unable to gauge the damage his buster arrows were inflicting, but he was confident that they were devastating the beast. If he was fortunate, it would die of its wounds after they disengaged. But the monster’s reach and his range were dangerously similar, so he needed to disengage. After every shot he tapped [Radiant Surge] and shot himself in a carefully selected direction, to avoid retaliation.

  Republius materialized from the shadows near Ranger Ranthia and ran for her.

  When it came to dealing with monsters, discerning motive was often difficult. Monsters typically were little more than stupid beasts. A rare few might be surprisingly cunning, but more often than not they simply managed to do something so outlandishly infuriating that it was difficult to not ascribe it to intentional malice.

  Such were the thoughts that went through Leoios’ head when an unseen limb—a tentacle, allegedly (he struggled to believe she had such an impressive variant of [Identify])—slew Republius before he could reach Ranger Ranthia.

  It was strange, he expected to be distraught. Most would have considered his relationship with the man a close friendship. To Leoios the word failed to capture the essence of their bond. They were the leader and his capable second. Republius was the only man that Leoios had ever truly trusted.

  And then he was gone. Leoios felt… disappointment. Perhaps annoyance. There may have been some guilt, had he been able to take the time to continue his assessment of himself.

  Yet the monster seemed to have decided to focus on him at last, albeit far too late.

  He fired another shot and used [Radiant Surge] to evade. Bit by bit, his carefully chosen pattern helped him get distance from the monster. Yet his quiver ran light, and he had yet to fully disengage.

  For a single, horrible moment he worried the beast was toying with him.

  But that was absurd. He was still in control of the situation. The monster might have outmatched Ranger Team 13, but Leoios was a Velius. He would never fall to some simple-minded creature.

  As if Seira agreed with him, the first good thing that had happened throughout the entire battle came to pass. He heard Ranger Ranthia groan and stir.

  Excellent, so long as she lived, his ambitions weren’t lost. Everything else could be replaced in time. He just needed to buy a few more moments for her to collect herself, then they could retreat.

  Another arrow, only two remained.

  Then he just needed to tap [Radiant Surge] to retreat to—

  There was nowhere to retreat to. When had a second appendage gotten there?!

  He should have yelled for her to run when she stirred, Leoios decided in his final moments. It seemed that he had made a second miscalculation.

  Not that it bothered him for very long.

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  Nozomi Matsuoka.

  Sarah "Neila" Elkins.