There were a total of six giant castles in this 12-star field.
The White team's base was located midway in the northeast, while the Red team's base was positioned symtrically in the southwest.
Looking from the center, two of the giant castles were located to the northwest and two to the southeast, and together with the bases they were arranged in a crust-like pattern.
The final two castles were the Northeast Giant Castle, located directly north of White's base, and the Southwest Giant Castle, located directly south of Red's base, but each had spectator seats as obstacles, aning you had to go around them to reach them.
In the center of the field was a Z-shaped spectator stand, blocking the shortest distance between each base. Near the Z-shaped spectator stand were the Central West Giant Castle and the Central East Giant Castle, which were closest to the bases, but if you prioritized acquiring them, the other giant castles would be taken over, making it a difficult structure.
Now then, the question poses itself—what would be our target first? I decided it would be two furthest castles; the Northwest Giant Castle and the Southeast Giant Castle.
At first glance, it looked like they were the farthest from each other's bases, but the giant castle in the center and the closest one directly north were quite far from the opponent and difficult to take. This was because they were closer to their respective challenger's base. So, those should be put off until later.
So the priority naturally settled on the distant target.
Just like what we had done in our earlier guild battles, the strategy was to grab the headstart before our opponent with our agilest mbers, while the rest would slowly tag along from behind, taking down the castles that fell in our way.
But, we're not going to take the shortest route. This one was reserved for those who weren't confident in their ability. The best knew every single step of their had been in the calculation all along.
"Rina, map please."
"Roger! «Human Observation»! «Watcher's Gaze»!"
The Duel had yet to begin. In our base, I had already unfurled strategic etings to effectively use the pre-battle phase. First of all, I had Rina cast her skill «Dragon's Miniature Garden». It wasn’t typically allowed,, however the current Duel's rules were decided among ourselves, and one of them allowed us to use our skill even before Duel begins.
The Temple Sabers were a guild famous for fighting on mounts, so our opponents must have been using skills to mount their horses in advance to get off to a faster start.
A three-dinsional 12-star field appeared as soon as Rina invoked her skill on «Dragon's Miniature Garden». However, with this alone, the unexplored squares were still obscured by the fog, making it completely useless as a map.
Luckily, this was where her 4th order skill ca into handy.
"«Full Mapping»!"
And—*bam*. Mapping complete. The fog covering the remainder of the map imdiately dissipated and disappeared.
This was the first of Rina's advanced skills: «Full Mapping.»
As the na suggested, this skill *completed* the mapping of that level on a map item. See, this was the power of advanced skill. Auto-Mapping? Pfft, that sort of standard skill was barely worth it. This was the power of an advanced princess job!
"Woah~!"
Yes, there. Rina's expression truly made this scene much more worthwhile. Those eyes, the sparkle in them as she realised the hard work of manual mapping was no more. All she needed to do was use her advanced skill, and with a snap, it's done. The 'woah' she uttered expressed her marvel. She said 'woah!' (Important things need to be said twice!)
"My, oh my. T-this is truly an incredible skill! I see, this is the essence of an advanced job!"
Bingo. It's indeed an incredible skill. Well, it does require a high amount of MP, but anyway, it gets the job done splendidly. With just one skill, Rina had now truly comprehended the joy of advanced princess jobs. If she had it during inter-class competition, the end result might have beco even more convoluted.
Of course, it wasn't an omnipotent skill. In the dungeon, it did map the entire floor, however there would be no entrance to the next floor. And more to its benefit, all the monsters were visible on the map as well. Plus, while it didn't reveal their location, there would be hints about entrance or hidden doors. I doubt it would ever see the light of day, given that I had all the routes morised.
"Great. Then, next skill, Rina."
"Y-yes! Second skill—«Guild Chain Bookmark»!"
"Pay attention, I'll explain while looking at this."
The subsequent skill, «Guild Chain Bookmark», allowed her to place notes on a map. A mo? What is it, so kind of super hot stuff? The na might appear silly, but believe when I say it's an extrely strong skill. It completed an important role—instant information sharing.
Imdiately after Rina activated the skill, several pin marks with notes attached appeared on the map, and Rina quickly wrote a few things down with her fingertips, then placed the pin mark on the Northwest Giant Castle coordinate. Then, a pin mark appeared on the map of the field and stopped moving.
It's the ability to write notes on specific squares. I explained while showing the notes.
"We are against the forr A-rank guild, which ans we all must give our best. I want you to take a look at this."
"Is this displaying where you can get the squares? Not...It's not only that, but it also reveals the timing we can take down the said square?"
"Indeed, this is the gist, Sierra. What's the challenge if we just take the shortest route to the Giant Castle? We are better than that. As the guild striving for S-rank, we need to know where to take the squares, when, and schedule it down to the second."
Which squares were advantageous to take first?
Not only that, but we also decided who would take it and the ti to acquire the castle from the beginning. It was the best division of roles.
"And of all, the cornerstone in all this is the ti of this giant castle."
I remarked, and pointed to one of the giant castles, the Northwest Giant Castle, where Rina's note was attached.
"It says '56 minutes and 00 seconds remaining'."
"That's right. And this is the designated ti for the Just Ti Attack."
「「「！！」」」
All the mbers reacted in surprise to my words.
"You're specifying the ti for the «Just Ti Attack» before the match even starts?!"
"Exactly. Just Ti Attack is the best technique you have to bring down the Giant Castle first. It would be a waste of ti to decide on it after the match has begun. If we decide on our tactic beforehand, it would greatly cut down the needless movents."
"......I think I have an idea where you're getting at, but."
Sierra placed her hand under her chin and looked intently at the «Dragon's Miniature Garden.»
The Duel would last for one hour.
The four minutes here ant the pointed giant castle would take exactly 4 minutes into the battle before we brought it down with our synchronised attack. It's not 'until 4 minutes' or 'When clock strikes 4 minutes.' It ant the castle would drop at perfect 4 minutes into the Duel. This was the essence of Just Ti Attack.
With our beforehand planning, we could avoid wasting our attacks or movents. A strategy down noted down to the very second. As a matter of fact, this was a beginner level tactic. I would say even four minutes were a bit too much just to spend on our move.
Against strong teams, the guild battles' outco often cos down to very second. It was a race on how quickly one could bring down the castles. For reference, if one had calculated to take the lead with 56 minutes and 00 seconds remaining, but the opponent took the lead with 56 minutes and 01 seconds remaining, then it would require us to crunch in our ti. There had been quite a few instances where I failed by a single second of lead.
That was why we’d to shorten the ti, and with gradual tries, you attempt to minimise the duration like dropping the first castle within 56 minutes and 4 seconds remaining, or maybe 56 minutes and 8 seconds remaining, and so on. Ultimately you'd be pursuing the absolute shortest possible ti to arrive and drop the castles imdiately. It tested a player’s skill in itself, not just the job.
How quickly could you clear Giant Castle? The mode—«Castle Capture»—encapsulates this idea precisely. Rina’s new skill, "Guild Chain Bookmark" and "Projection Connect", were the ultimate tool for this mode.
"Projection Connect" was a special skill that allowed Rina to project the contents she wrote in her "Guild Chain Bookmark" onto the actual location, allowing party mbers to see the pin on the note.
In other words, if Rina wrote a note on the Northwest Giant Castle in the Dragon's Miniature Garden, the note would also appear on the actual Northwestern Giant Castle, and party mbers outside would be able to see the note. And in real ti.
It appeared as if a note was floating above the Northwest Giant Castle saying "56 minutes and 00 seconds remaining," and above the Central West Giant Castle saying "Next target here, 53 minutes and 30 seconds remaining." It was truly a risky thod.
In the ga, the map would only continue to get bigger, and this skill had never co into play, except revealing our strategy to the opponent. In reality, it had been altered hugely, so much that it even surpassed «Guild Connect» in utility value.
I wasn't completely assured that it would work, so I had Rina try it out just as an experience, but the results were astounding. In real life, giving orders had been a huge bottleneck, so this would give us an even greater advantage in guild battles!
"Now, changing the subject, let's double-check the breakdown of our team mbers. This ti, we'll be attacking two locations at once. The Northwest Giant Castle and the Southeast Giant Castle. Of these, the Northwest Giant Castle is the furthest from White Team's base. Our opponent is much closer to it, hence this team would require the topmost agile mbers. It would be Ester, and Karua."
"Understood."
"Hn."
"Next up is the Southeast Giant Castle, but this one is in the distance from the enemy's base. Now, this ant we had an edge here, but this held just as much of an enticent for them, too. We can't let down our guard. Hence, the second team would consist of I, Pala, and—Aegis."
"Alright-desu!"
"I will do my best!"
Why only two mbers for the distant castle, but a closer one required a three person team? There was a reason, but the explanation could be made later.
The two aforentioned castles were the cornerstone in many strategies, and I was to believe they would hold the sa aning to our opponent. The closer the place, the easier to bring it down, but the farther it was, the more it would appear a waste. Our opponent would try to score this one first, and for that, It was better I remained with the team to face them.
"Onwards—Lana, Sierra, Shizu, rt, and Rina. You will follow Karua and Ester."
"Leave it to (I will make sure of its success)!"
"I will do my best."
"Roger!"
"And the mbers following our three-person team would be Lulu, Rika, Celia, Noel, and Lacritta."
"Understood."
"Yes sir!" x3
After announcing the division of the team, I gave a brief summary on the aspect to be careful of around these two castles, making sure everyone knew the right steps.
"Okay, that's all for now. As per the manual I gave you earlier, you've already been instructed on what steps to take if (1) We lost both castles to the opponent, (2) We lost one castle to the opponent, or (3) We scored both castles. Does anyone have any questions or concerns?"
This was just a final check.
The mbers had been instructed in advance on how to move during guild battles, so there should have been no problems with their movents. No questions were raised.
Aegis, Noel, and Lacritta appeared visibly tense. It was their first guild battle in «Eden», so it was an understandable reaction.
Now, we were all set. I'd already communicated all the information about this field and the initial strategy to everyone.
There was no room for error.
A few minutes later, a countdown of one minute left began, and when it reached zero, the buzzer sounded to start the guild battle.
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