My Plunderer System

Chapter 95 94 - Strategy Meeting

When he got home, Milo went straight to bed, and went through the same process he did the day before once he woke up in the morning. Since he wouldn't be training in a simulation that day, he decided to do a more intense workout. Eventually after putting the rest of the other guild members to shame with the amount of weight he was using in his workout, Milo had worked up quite the sweat and took a shower before going to his meeting with his squad.

He was early again, and once everyone had arrived, David got the meeting underway. David started the meeting by pulling up a video of their simulated gate from the previous day. It was played on a screen in the conference room they were meeting in, and at different times he would pause the video and draw shapes and symbols on the screen to show areas where different decision making could've helped the team to be more efficient, as well as avoid being injured or killed.

Milo could see bags under David's eyes most likely meaning he stayed up all night finding the different points in the video where he paused to show them every little change they should make. Milo appreciated David more and more everyday, he was really helpful and did whatever he could to help Milo and his team be the best gatecrashers they could be.

After going over all the film, David walked through a list of all the different callouts they should use when closing a gate. All of them were short and simple phrases that would be efficient while also giving each other the information needed to help them make decisions in combat. Each role was then given specific call outs they should listen for. As a hybrid mage and close combat role, Milo would have to memorize double the amount that his teammates at other roles would have to learn to listen for. This would make his role a bit harder, but Milo wasn't one to back down from a challenge.

Milo jotted down all the call outs on a notepad he had been given, as well as the meaning each one meant. The most important one he would need to listen for was "Support" which meant that a beast had broken through the formation and was targeting the support role members of the team. This role included Helena, who was the area healer. A girl who went by Pixie that had bright pink and blue hair and used an ability called Healing Spirit, which allowed her to place a "spirit" on a target that would heal them over time. The "spirit" was a green floating orb like object that would float around the target it was healing, but it was unknown if spirit was what it really was.

The last member of the support squad was named Seamus, he was a bit older looking, appearing to be in his late 30s, and his ability was called Soul Siphon, it allowed him to drain a certain amount of power from the target and would instead allow Seamus to use the power himself, although he wasn't well versed in combat and was a bit too old to learn and because of this, couldn't take advantage of the second part of the ability.

Milo was interested in the ability as it was a unique ability that he could use in combat in order to weaken his opponents. With him having the Extortion skill he was able to use two abilities at once which meant that he could use the ability while still using another ability for combat. It would act like his Hunter's Eye ability which acted as more of a support ability for him, rather than an attacking ability, like Ice.

When activating his Plunder skill, he got the usual screen he got when viewing an ability and its copying condition:

[Notice]

Ability: Soul Siphon detected

Conditions to copy: Defeat 10 enemies that are afflicted by Soul Siphon

[complete condition to copy ability: Soul Siphon]

The condition to copy the ability was straightforward but after testing it in the Simulation the day before it didn't count meaning he'd have to wait until attacking an actual gate and until they fought actual beasts.

Now that Milo was in a guild he'd be able to see different abilities in action which made him think it'd be worth it to scout out some other abilities he might want to copy, and Seamus's ability was a perfect example. He thought it may be a good idea to be on the lookout for a worthwhile healing or regenerative ability as well, as if he could heal himself, it would bring him closer to being a one person combat squad.

He'd also have to consult with Navi about more things as well. There were some things he had been wondering about for awhile but still hadn't gotten an answer through testing, but maybe Navi would be able to answer the questions instead. She was extremely helpful when helping him learn abilities using the tutorials tab and he hadn't tried to ask her anything other than ability related questions, which he just now realized was a mistake as she could hold the answer to a lot of his questions.

After the talk about callouts and things that should be used for communication in the gates, David went on to explain a formation that he felt would suit their team best when taking all their abilities and combat styles into account.

The formation was similar to the one that Harvey had come up with the day before but was tweaked a bit in order to better protect the backline. In the center of the formation, there were the 3 support roles as well as the ranged dealer. This would keep the supports in the safest position, and would even give them a sort of escort in the form of the ranged dealer. On both the right and left of that group would be the twins, since they were close ranged fighters, they'd be the main line of defense on the sides of the formation. In front of the supports and the ranged dealer was where Milo would sit, due to him being a hybrid ranged and close combat fighter, he could rotate between protecting the supports as well as assisting the front line. Next, the rear of the formation would be covered by their brawler, he would be an overall bodyguard for the supports and would also tie up beasts for the ranged dealer to finish off if they broke through the front line. Finally, at the front would be the remaining two tankers.

All the other members of the team had no problem with this, aside from the group's brawler. His name was Ken and he had an ability called Berserk that caused him to become stronger and more resilient based on how much damage he took. Because of his ability, he was the perfect choice for a brawler.

"I don't want to be stuck in the back babysitting the entire time," he said.

David then reminded him that he could leave if he'd like but he'd be forfeiting his salary as well as any bonuses he was promised. Along with this, it wouldn't look good to other guilds if someone was dropped from one of the strike forces for the strongest guild in the area. After hearing David's words he shut up.

Milo then chimed in saying they could take rotations so that he could use close combat at some points, and still fulfill his role as a mage and attack at range. Satisfied with this, Ken crossed his arms and nodded, agreeing with Milo's idea. David grinned as well, seeing Milo act how he did. Milo's main reason for this was to avoid any discourse in the group. They were already new and lacked chemistry as it is, and he wanted to avoid adding any new bad ingredients to the recipe.

"Okay," David continued, "for team leader, we decided to try something a little different with you guys, due to how your team's roles are spread, we think having two team leaders who are in charge of specific roles will be good, and because of this, we'd like Harvey to be the leader for the tanks and supports, he will be in charge of communication for those two roles. For the dealers, me and the guild leader decided to put Milo in charge, with his hybrid role he will be able to see combat from both the ranged and close up perspective which will give him the best overall view of what direction the battle is headed and where specific dealers are needed most."

Hearing the plan David and Jorge had come up with Milo was stunned that they'd leave leadership in his hands. He was still a student after all. But Jorge and David watched Milo during the simulated gate the day before and they could see his mind working at all times, and every decision and move he made did a good job of keeping his teammates out of harm's way.

Harvey clapped Milo on the back again. "I think it's a great idea! Two minds work better than one after all," he said giving Milo a wink, "and this'll keep me from having to focus on where the dealers are which will lighten my mental load a good bit so I can focus on tanking."

Milo couldn't argue with the points that Harvey made, although he'd definitely have to get used to him slapping Milo on the back, as every time he did it felt like he was being slapped by a bear with how big Harvey's hands were. The rest of the group seemed to nod in agreement and there were no arguments from Ken or the twins as well, which is who Milo thought would have the biggest problem with this.

Milo had also gotten a new screen that he hadn't seen before once everyone agreed to him being a leader.

[Notice]

New Title Obtained: [Squad Leader]

[clear]

Seeing that he obtained a title out of being chosen as a leader, he was mind blown. The title section of his status screen was something he hadn't seen before and was still fuzzy on what it would do. Seeing his surprise Harvey chuckled thinking that it was a surprise for Milo to be chosen. While this was also true he was mainly surprised about receiving a title for the first time. He wanted to check it out right away but decided to wait for awhile as he was still in the strategy meeting.

After the meeting ended, Milo checked out his title, and when opening his status screen found that there indeed was a title where it was indicated. Selecting the title he was able to see the effect of the title and it would be very helpful in the future.

[Squad Leader]: Gain 1.5x more experience from teammates who defeat enemies under your command

Based on the effect it gave, Milo wondered if the whole squad would give him bonus experience or just the dealers as that was the role he would be in charge of. He would have to find out next time they went into the simulation.

Milo had a big role now and he was both nervous and excited to get started. When getting home that night he memorized the list of call outs he would need. And finally got ahold of Avery to ask about what changes might be good to make to his weapon. When telling her about his current weapon, he mentioned that he liked the range of the chain, but in close combat using the sickle made it a bit harder due to how hard it was to defend with.

Avery was surprised to hear that Milo chose to use a kusarigama. It wasn't a commonly used weapon but when thinking of similar weapons an idea came to mind. There was a weapon that had a similar range, it was a bit shorter but defensively it worked a lot better and would also probably be more useful in close combat as well.

Milo received a new message that she sent, reading it he wondered what the heck the weapon looked like because it had the name of 3 different weapons in its name. The message read, "Have you ever considered a chain-whip sword?"