The Over-Break System

With a loud popping sound, all four Cold Steel cables went taught as Milo and the two Ravens pumped forward, causing the sled to slowly move forward before picking up speed.

Within a few seconds, by the combined effort of the three pets, MyrkLys was gliding across the snow at well over 150 kilometers per hour (93 mph) and moving to the north, where small mountain peaks could barely be spotted through the heavy and dense snowstorm.

'Gabby, Milo, keep your eyes peeled; if you see anything out of the ordinary, be sure to call it out. Also, Milo, try to act as fiercely as possible to shy away from how intelligent you are; that means no talking. Since normally Beasts and Creatures need to reach Tier-4 to speak with the common tongue, you will give away the fact that you are special.'

'Kayyy,' Gabby chirped as she sat down and fiddled with the support loops Brance had built into the sled. Since the only one who could keep hold of the reins without help would be Brance due to his STR stat being so high, he had created the small reinforced stone loops to hold onto the CS Cables.

Milo grunted his reply and kept running full force with his head down, reducing the drag on his body and increasing his sleek aerodynamics. Even though the combined weight of MyrkLys and the solid stone sled was heavy, he had relatively little difficulty in pulling it, and with his large paws, which acted almost like snow shoes, he could efficiently run across the loosely packed fresh snow.

---

Back in the studio, Cesar and Roni split up their commentary, adding insight into each team's choice of progression. Unlike the Swarm event, which could be considered fast-paced and exciting, it was generally the second two events that saw a drop in viewership.


With the Tier-3 SRD event tending to go on for many hours because of how large the maps generally were, there was a lot of dead air and small talk topics.

Cesar: "As expected, the searchers of Romeoville have locked in on their target's location and have begun their Teleportation Cycle. For the last three years, we have seen them use a very similar strategy in each SRD event, and their unique team composition is primarily built around handling this event."
Roni: "Indeed; however, it appears that Team Captain Derrek has once again increased the distance of his long-range teleportation skill. Last year, Derrek could jump his team in 600-meter gaps, but now he is approaching the 1km mark, with each teleport reaching roughly 800 meters." Turning her head from the monitor displaying Romeoville to the one with MyrkLys on it, Roni narrowed her eyes before tapping the desk touch screen.

Cynrik's leadership was superb, and the way that his teammates followed his every command without question was both intriguing and entertaining to see. With such extreme temperatures, it is not uncommon for young people to panic, which frequently happens when new teams drop into a barren wasteland for the SRD event.

However, contrary to the norm, the VSFA team wasted no time before setting to work on an impressive feat. No one complained, nor did they mess up on their tasks. Brance built a sturdy structure, the large Cat Beast and Ravens took up the reins, Benjamin kept the temperature in check, assumingly using a Fire Affinity, the girls all had tasks, and even the team's cleric was managing everyone's Resource stats.

This level of seamless cohesion was unseen in most teams, and it generally only presented itself in the higher brackets or with highly experienced competitors. Yet here was a group of first years students and a single veteran, an upperclassman, putting on a clinic for what teamwork is SUPPOSED to look like.

Pushing down her astonishment, Roni quickly checked their speed and nodded a couple of times before tracking how swiftly Romeoville was advancing.

Roni: "The two teams are surprisingly close to one another regarding average speed and distance covered. In contrast to Romeoville, which needs to take a few minutes to recover after every teleportation, VSFA constantly stays on the move, making up any lost ground."

Cesar: "Although that is true, Roni, there is a pretty big issue cropping up; from what I have heard from Romeoville's team coms, they have already located their target. In contrast, it is complete radio silence from VSFA. Instead of speaking, Cynrik uses unknown hand signals and a psychic thought transfer skill used by Gabriella Sanford, which can be recognized by the wire-thin Amethyst Mana thread connecting her to Cynrik and her Cat Beast."

---

Four hours and 600 kilometers later, Cynrik was beginning to grow frustrated. Over the last few hours, Milo, Vii, and Sie had been going strong, and because of their enthusiasm, MyrkLys had made significant headway on the snowy tundra terrain. Unfortunately, from what Cynrik could tell, they had only covered a little over half the distance to the target.

Rubbing his chin and reactivating [Mana Sight] for the hundredth time since the event began, Cynrik impatiently scanned the horizon for any sign of Mana fluctuations and came up empty.

Giving up his search of the much taller mountain range, Cynrik observed his faction and Milo and his Ravens and frowned upon seeing how low everyone's resources stats had fallen.

'Milo, we will keep this up for another hour, and then we can take a break.' Cynrik stated, earning him a tired chuff from the large Cat.

Next, he looked up to Sie and Vii, who hadn't slowed their flaps since the trek began.

'Hang in there, you two; one more hour, and you can take a quick nap to recover.'

In response, both Ravens cawed in excitement and pushed harder to help carry the slack and make it easier on their friend Milo.

[[Are we stopping?]] Seeing the three animals reacting to something, Brance questioned as he made repairs on the sled, which constantly lost small amounts of durability the longer in use.

[[Yeah, we still have upwards of three hours until we reach the mountain range, and there is no conceivable way those three hang in there that long. So we push forward for another hour and then take a one-hour break. That should give everyone enough time to recover their resource stats.]] Nodding and scanning the horizon again, Cynrik stated with a tired voice.

[[Then what, darling? Once we stop, I mean…I do hope you don't plan on taking a nap in the middle of a blizzard…]] Selene started to say while cuddling up to her boyfriend for warmth, but when she noticed his passive expression, she frowned and smacked his arm.

[[CYNRIK! If that is what you are planning, then you can fuck the hell right off. I HATE THE SNOW!]]

[[Calm your tits, woman, I have a plan, but it falls on Brancie and Benny to make it work.]]

Upon hearing Cynrik say his name, Brance's ears perked up, and he glanced back from Cynrik to Benny.

[[Operation IceBox is already bad enough, and us being outside in this environment unprotected is miserable enough without the fact it keeps ticking away our Resource stats. Not to mention my MP has fallen to 30% due to keeping Milo, Vii, and Sie warm.]] Cynrik was quick to correct Selene's train of thought by rubbing his arm and rolling his eyes.

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