Two weeks passed in the freezing hell of Dragonspine.
In that short time, Ilya completely changed the way his small squad operated. They were no longer four terrified boys waiting to die in the snow. They were a machine. And Ilya was the engine running it all.
'Consistency builds value,' Ilya thought, watching from a high rock.
Down in the snowy clearing below, his three recruits were hunting. A massive, angry Snowboar was charging right at them. The beast was covered in thick, solid ice. It was dangerous enough to break a man's legs with one hit.
But Pyotr, Ivan, and Nikolai did not run away.
"Position!" Pyotr shouted. He was acting as the floor manager today.
Ivan stepped forward. He threw his hands out, shooting a wide blast of blue Hydro magic. The water splashed all over the charging boar, soaking its icy armor.
"Now!" Ivan yelled, jumping back.
Pyotr stepped up. He took a deep breath and blasted a huge wave of bright red Pyro magic from his hands.
The fire hit the wet boar. The Vaporize reaction exploded with a loud Hiss! Thick, boiling steam filled the air. The boar squealed loudly as its thick ice armor completely melted away.
But the beast was still alive. It was angry, and it kept charging blindly through the steam.
"Hold the line!" Pyotr yelled.
Nikolai, the heavy boy with the brown Geo stone, stepped in front of his friends. He slammed his fists into the snowy ground. A thick, glowing brown wall of solid rock shot up from the dirt.
CRASH!
The giant boar slammed headfirst into the rock wall. The loud noise echoed across the mountain. The boar fell backward into the snow, completely knocked out.
From his high rock, Ilya nodded.
'Asset synergy is reaching optimal levels,' Ilya thought. He jumped down from the rock, his boots landing softly in the snow. 'They do not panic. They follow the formula. Water, fire, shield. It is a simple system, but the profit is high.'
He walked over to the unconscious boar. He pulled a small, sharp knife from his belt and quickly ended the beast's life. Fresh meat was incredibly rare on the mountain. Usually, the Fatui soldiers only ate dry bread and salted fish. This was a massive prize.
"Good work," Ilya said to his squad. "Nobody wasted energy. Nobody got hurt."
Pyotr smiled proudly. Ivan and Nikolai high-fived each other. They looked tired, but they looked healthy. The double food rations and the warm furs in Tent Number Three were making them stronger.
"Let us carry it back," Ilya ordered. "We need to process the meat before it freezes solid."
The four boys lifted the heavy boar together. They carried it through the howling wind back to the Wyrmrest Valley checkpoint.
When they walked into the camp, the other soldiers stopped and stared.
Over the last two weeks, Ilya's squad had become famous in the camp. They always finished their patrols. They never lost any supplies. They never got injured. Captain Bracing even used them as an example to yell at the older, veteran soldiers.
But success always bred jealousy.
'High performance attracts unwanted attention,' Ilya thought, looking at the angry faces of the older soldiers around the fire. 'Bad employees hate the ones who raise the daily quotas.'
As Ilya and his squad walked toward Tent Number Three, a large group of men blocked their path.
There were five of them. They were older, bigger, and covered in scars. The man standing in the front was a Geochanter. He was a fat, nasty-looking man named Grigori. Grigori held a magical brown staff in his hand.
"Hold on right there, little boys," Grigori said with an ugly smile.
Ilya stopped. Pyotr, Ivan, and Nikolai stopped behind him, holding the heavy boar tightly.
"Move out of the way, Grigori," Ilya said. His voice was calm and flat.
Grigori laughed. The other four men laughed with him. "You recruits have been getting a lot of special treatment lately. Better tents. More soup. And now you bring back fresh meat? You have not earned that."
Grigori pointed his brown staff at the boar. "Drop the pig. Consider it a tax for living in our camp. You boys can go eat your dry bread."
Ilya did not move. He let his eyes relax. The normal world faded slightly, and the glowing lines of magic appeared.
He looked at Grigori's brown Geo staff. The earth magic inside it was slow, heavy, and lazy. Grigori was a sloppy fighter. He relied on his size and his friends to bully people.
'This is a hostile takeover attempt,' Ilya analyzed the situation. 'He wants to steal my resources and ruin my squad's morale. If I give him the meat, my boys will lose trust in me. I will lose my authority. That is an unacceptable loss.'
"The meat belongs to my squad," Ilya said clearly. "We hunted it. We are keeping it."
Grigori's ugly smile disappeared. His face turned red with anger. "You skinny little rat. I am going to break your legs and take the pig anyway."
Grigori raised his staff. Brown magic started glowing at the top, getting ready to shoot a heavy rock bullet.
'Risk assessment complete,' Ilya thought. 'Lethal force is against company policy. But a fast, violent correction is required.'
Ilya moved. He did not step backward. He stepped straight forward, right into Grigori's space.
He tapped into the green Anemo Delusion on his chest. Because of the secret blue ice nectar he had applied two weeks ago, the cooling system was perfect. He did not pull the safe fifty percent of power. He pulled seventy percent.
The green stone on his chest glowed blindingly bright.
Ilya raised his heavy metal gauntlet. He did not punch Grigori. That would leave a bruise and get him in trouble with the Captain.
Instead, Ilya opened his metal hand. He focused the powerful wind magic into a vacuum, right in front of Grigori's chest.
Whoosh!
The sudden, violent pull of the wind jerked Grigori forward. The fat man lost his balance completely, stumbling on his own heavy boots.
As Grigori fell forward, Ilya simply stepped to the side and stuck his foot out.
Grigori tripped hard. His face slammed directly into the freezing, hard dirt of the camp with a sickening Crunch! The brown staff flew out of his hand and clattered away.
Grigori groaned in pain, holding his bleeding nose. He tried to push himself up, but Ilya slammed his heavy metal boot down on the back of Grigori's neck, pinning the fat man to the freezing dirt.
The camp went totally silent. The other four veteran soldiers stepped back in shock. They could not believe how fast it happened.
Ilya looked at the four men. His green eyes were cold and dead, like a shark looking at a meal. The wind magic was still swirling around his metal glove, humming with dangerous power.
"Does anyone else want to audit my squad's resources?" Ilya asked quietly.
The four men quickly shook their heads. They backed away from the tent.
Ilya lifted his boot off Grigori's neck. "Pick up your trash and get out of my way."
Grigori scrambled to his feet, crying about his broken nose. He grabbed his staff and ran away with his friends.
Pyotr, Ivan, and Nikolai stared at Ilya with pure awe. Their Squad Leader had just humiliated the biggest bully in the camp without even throwing a real punch.
'Threat neutralized. Resources secured. Authority increased,' Ilya thought, turning off his magic sight. The heavy drain of seventy percent power made his chest ache, but he hid the pain perfectly.
"Take the meat inside," Ilya told his boys. "Start cooking."
Before Pyotr could answer, a massive shadow fell over them.
It was the giant Electro Vanguard. He had been watching the whole fight from the center of the camp.
"Squad Leader Ilya," the big man grunted. His deep voice rumbled.
"Yes, Vanguard?" Ilya answered respectfully.
"Captain Bracing wants to see you," the big man said. He pointed his giant purple hammer toward the large black tent. "Right now. Alone."
Ilya felt a cold chill that had nothing to do with the weather.
'Upper management noticed,' Ilya thought. He took a slow breath, hiding his worry. 'Time for a performance review.'
He nodded to the Vanguard, left his squad by their tent, and walked toward the Captain's quarters. He did not know if he was going to get a promotion, or a death sentence.