“[Meteor Strike]!” Rex said. He ran down the frosted street as his ability activated. This was the first event of the winter. A nice friendly snowball fight. The rules were simple: whoever had the most snowball hits would be crowned the winner. It was supposed to be a peaceful team-building exercise to offset all of the serious events that surrounded it. Unfortunately, that immediately went out the window. Everyone in The Unnamed Team wanted to win by any means necessary.

Rex’s newest skill came from his new class, [Fighter]. It was still below the class [Knight] that he yearned for, but it was better than his previous class. The entire team had grown in some way and wanted to show that growth through this bout. It was the main reason why the friendly match became yet another intense fight. That much was obvious when the snowball Rex threw with his skill crashed into a building and left a visible dent in it. Coincidentally, Nicholas’s head was right next to the crater.

“Why would you use a skill during a snowball fight?!” Nicholas said. He was the only one with enough sense to enjoy the fight for what it was. He didn’t want the team to use their skills. Some of it was because this was supposed to be a relaxed and friendly match to help everyone relax. Most of it, however, was because Nicholas didn’t want to accidentally destroy the town like they inevitably would when using their powers haphazardly.

“Oh, come on. It’s all fun and games.” Rex said with a smirk. He brushed off his friends' concerns. They knew how to control themselves, so why not live in the moment? Now was the perfect time to test their new skills and reassess the team. They could probably even face The Heroes of The Voice on equal grounds now. Of course, they weren’t quite ready to pick a fight with them yet.

“Yup, which is why you can’t hate me for this,” Robyn said. Her voice seemed to come out of nowhere. Rex and Nicholas looked around to spot her. She slid out from behind a nearby building. Thankfully, she had accustomed herself to this cold environment. Otherwise, she would have immediately fallen over from the maneuver. Robyn shouted at her friends and activated the latest iteration of her command skill, “[Absolute Authority]: Rex and Nicholas, don’t move for one minute!”

The two men were frozen in place. They couldn’t move a muscle. Robyn waltzed up to them before pelting them with numerous snowballs. This was the power of [Absolute Authority]. It allowed her to command anyone. The only caveat was that it affected everyone that heard the command, so Robyn always needed to specify both her target and her command. The skill could be resisted if a person’s level was high enough, but The Unnamed Team was starting to become one of the strongest teams in the realm. This time, the claim was more valid than ever before.

“Not fair,” Nicholas said once [Absolute Authority] had released its grip on him. It felt awful to be restrained like that. His body was sore from being locked in place. Plus, Robyn wasn’t particularly kind when she pelted them with her frozen projectiles. It was all a bit much. Robyn could have easily forced them to concede from the game if she wanted to. That was how powerful her skill was. The same was true with Rex’s [Meteor Strike] that could knock a person unconscious and boot them from the game. Xander and Nicholas were no different.

“Aw, you’re just upset because-” Robyn tried to say. She was about to gloat, but a cold sensation stopped her.

Snowballs rained from the sky. Each one hit its intended target. The three were bombarded by icy shots that racked up a certain person’s score. They turned to see where they were being attacked from. Wide eyes stared at Xander, who was standing on a nearby roof. He was wielding a new weapon. It was one that he created specifically for this snowball fight. It was a slingshot. As a [Sniper], Xander was now proficient with every type of ranged weapon. His aim was incredible. The only probably was that he sometimes got too focused on his targets...

“Ah!” Xander yelled as he fell off the roof. A dark figure had snuck up behind him and pushed him off the ledge. Thankfully, a mound of snow acted as a cushion. Robyn and Rex ran over to see if he was alright, but they were caught in the figures' next attack. All of Xander’s pre-prepared snowballs were tossed off the roof. The hail of projectiles smashed against the three before they had time to recover. With their job done, the figure leaped to the ground and landed next to Nicholas.

“I gathered them as you directed,” Eins, the Demon Slime, said. They were the evolved form of a Predator Slime. In fact, Eins was the strongest form a slime could take. There was no higher evolution for this monster. As a result, they were incredibly powerful. They could do almost anything. Skills came naturally. Armor now had an effect but was reduced. Smaller monsters would listen to their orders. The sky was the limit. Eins could even summon themself and refuse their master’s orders. This newfound strength came with a drawback but not for Eins.

“I guess that’s my win,” Nicholas said. He was ready to end this game. The wind changed as the sky darkened. The air grew even more frigid. The ground developed a new layer of ice almost instantaneously. This was the strength of a [Contracted Mage], a mage who swore a pact with a powerful being. Nicholas was forced to pick this class thanks to Eins’s unparalleled power. It meant that the two were now on equal terms rather than summoner and familiar. Nicholas took a deep breath before finishing the day’s snowball fight. He activated his ability, “[Blizzard].”

And the match was his.