“I’m confident in myself and my ability to hold up against a two-person rush, assuming that’s what they do, and I know you’ve got a background, Victoria.”

“Yeah. Confidence goes before the fall, though. I think one of the things I regret most in the past is my overconfidence.”

“This is just an exercise. If I’m wrong on this, I’ll own it. Let me plant our flag and get my stuff to adjust my armor, I’ll be right with you.”

As he said it, another wall materialized behind us. A fort with ten foot walls was slowly forming. Tristan wasn’t even focusing that much on the construction, attention-wise. He took the flag before walking off.

I had intentionally chosen a less level area. We were on a hill, playing on a bit of a slope, roughly a ten degree decline with taller grass, weeds, and some pebbly dirt covering the area. Some trees and rocks dotted the space between where their group would set up and where we would.

I had a few reasons for choosing the area. Part of it played off something I had experienced with New Wave. The team had always been split between the fliers and the people on the ground. Me, Aunt Sarah, Crystal and Eric had all been airborne, while my Uncle Neil, Mom, and Dad had all been landbound. It created a dilemma in logistics, and this slightly sloped ground and uneven terrain emphasized that logistics in a way that having to go through and around buildings might in the city.

Sveta functionally had a mover ability, I wasn’t sure about Chris’s capabilities, and Damsel and Rain both had some capabilities in that realm. Supposedly. I wanted to see how the more mobile members of the group worked in coordination with the others.

It was interesting that Tristan had picked both Sveta and me. We were both mobile and Tristan wasn’t. Ashley’s team had three people on foot.

Another reason for this particular location was Rain’s power. It helped him keep his balance, and that was supposedly the extent of it. When he arrived, I wanted to see if it factored in here.

Finally, there was the fact that it put us out of the way. No bystanders, no property to damage.

Kenzie had her head down, her attention on her phone. Ashley and Chris were both smiling. All three were talking. I waited a short bit for them to finish.

“I’m so unbelievably nervous,” Sveta said.

I glanced at her, and confirmed that Tristan had stepped away, rummaging in his bag. He was out of earshot.

“I definitely hear you on that,” I said.