We spent the rest of the week recovering, keeping an eye out for attackers and preparing for the points boom when the stream came out. Everyone was excited. Grimmengap was looking at a probable rank up, and while the rest of us (aside from possibly Cark if he got VERY lucky) weren't even close to that point. We would all be seeing a huge bump in strength from the endgame of this little adventure. The only real question was exactly what we were going to end up getting the points in and how many, though no one had any reliable way to predict that.

Of course, we still had to wait for the stream to air, but that would probably happen tonight. In the meantime it was now officially the day of our return to Rajak, and despite all of us having enjoyed our time here (mostly) I think everyone was looking forward to getting back to civilization. Once everyone was packed up we headed back to the field where the air shuttles had dropped us off to take them back with the other hunters. Apparently this was part of the ritual of the hunt, and would be shown as part of the stream.

When we arrived we spotted MacDonald and his two teammates, as well as Fisher, waiting alongside another dozen teams. Apparently in the last week, plenty more people had managed to make their way to the finish line, or at least as close as the other teams could get. We eyed the other teams carefully as we arrived, not sure about our reception after the last fight, but no one seemed to be holding a grudge. Still, I wished we could have taken the shuttle back with Zeke and Cassidy, both of whom had gotten a ride back earlier to avoid any inference of cheating.

Aside from Fisher and MacDonald, we also saw Cold Snap around, which was a bit of surprise. He'd bailed after helping us with Aiden and we hadn't seen him since. Without the sleepers we hadn't expected him to manage very well, but considering his personality he probably bribed or bullied some random group into helping him by relying on his moms reputation. That seemed pretty on brand for the spoiled brat.

We all gathered up, and it was notable that while there were quite a large number of people, it was a far cry from the number that came out here with us the first time. Plenty of people were still out here searching for the remaining two weeks, and some of them were probably dead. I felt a pang of grief over the two lost sleepers who had died during the siege, and made a mental note to track down their families if they had any and do...something.

Telling them what happened seemed crueler than letting them think they died trying to follow their dreams, but maybe I could anonymously send money or something. I should probably have done the same with the eight who died in G district, but they'd been wearing masks and their heads had blown up. I wasn't sure how to go about finding out who they had been. I doubted the Unity had even tried. I felt a bit guilty over trying to hard to gloss over what had happened, but even now I wasn't sure I was ready to deal with what had happened. That had been when things really got real for all of us, and I don't think anyone in the group was really equipped to deal with how they felt when watching those people die.

The blink-and-you'd-miss-it appearance of the man who called himself Professor Tricks was less shocking now than it would have been when we got here. Granted he had shown the ability to come and go like that when we first saw him, so it was less surprising in from him specifically, but even more than that, we were just more equipped to deal with the shock now. My lack of reaction actually revealed something about this entire thing that I hadn't really noticed until now.

We'd gotten better. Whether it was the pressure, the stakes, the danger, or just the constant need to keep an eye on the situation, this experience had changed us. Part of our big problem before was that we still thought like mortals, and that hadn't gone away, but some of the rawness, the inexperience, had been rubbed away. We'd gone into this a bunch of random newbies, but all the things we'd gone through together had helped us gel as a team, helped us learn and grow into more powerful versions of ourselves.

Seeing the ways the hunt had changed our perceptions of things (some of which were incidental or the result of third party interference, granted) gave me a new appreciation for what the Academy could do. For the way they operated. Events like this were an opportunity in more ways than padding our wallets. This whole thing had basically been a crash course in life experience, years of Ascendant training and adaptation all packed into a neat little fortnight, and it was obviously far from accidental.

It wasn't a perfect system obviously. What you got out of it depended on what you put in. We had pushed (and been pushed) and so we'd grown more than most, but that was the point. The Academy didn't care about random nobodies who hid out in a tree and waited out the month. They were trying to polish people like us, people who had the will to be more than we were, and the power to make that will a reality.

It wasn't nice. It wasn't fair. And it had probably been responsible for a not inconsiderable number of deaths that we weren't aware of yet. But what it almost certainly was, was effective. Exposure to monsters, opportunities to bond as a team, training in information gathering and tactics. There had been opportunities out here that had nothing to do with expensive magic plants, and we'd made the most of them. The only thing left to see was if it had been worth it. If our effort had led to rewards that felt justified.

Professor Tricks, still in his purple suit and wide brimmed hat, looked mildly less apathetic when he glanced around at the crowd. Of course, by mildly less I meant the difference between all but ignoring something and looking at a particularly interesting bug, but still, he actually seemed to give a shit we existed this time. "Well. I see you've mostly made it back. A few deaths, more than a few wastes of space I won't even bother with, but still. This group can be considered just at the edge of competence."

I saw more than a few satisfied smiles among the crowd, and so did he, because he felt the need to shut that down pretty quick. "Don't mistake my comments for confirmation that you've reach some kind of watershed. Passing the hunt with reasonable levels of skill is the bare minimum to be taken seriously as a student, but only barely. Most of you still aren't anyone I would consider important or impressive. Maybe one or two of you will graduate in the top ten thousand rank wise, which is what I would consider even a modicum of success in this Academy."

His eyes scanned over us, and the mild interest he'd shown earlier felt...derisive now. I was less sure it was a good thing that he gave more of a shit now, because it kind of seemed like he'd gone from not caring at all to actively considering us pathetic. He opened his mouth to speak, but before he could he paused. His head shifted slightly to one side, as if listening to someone speak, before his face screwed up in annoyance. "Fine. I'll move on to the rest of the informational portion of the evening. I suspect they get the point anyway."

He flicked a hand and a scan ring projected a large screen above his head. I found the names of our team, in the first slot, and the rest of the slots on the list were taken up by random people, though the existence of Fisher in the second slot and MacDonald in the third made it clear this was a ranking list of the event. Professor Tricks spoke up lazily. "As you may have noticed, your exact rankings were not made clear to you when you completed the trial. I have no interest in reading them out or anything so find your names and make a note, because this is where you landed."

He kept it up for about thirty second before flicking his wrist and cutting it off. "Now, anyone who missed their name, though how anyone with even passable Focus or Perception could have with that much time, can find the list hanging in the student building. Moving on. The stream of this event is going to end shortly, in point of fact it should be complete by the time the shuttles arrive back at the campus. I suggest once you make it back you head for a safe place to sort through your gains from this exercise, there will be quite a bit to digest for some of you."

That sounded like a good thing to me, but I also recognized that I'd probably be getting more points at once than I ever had in my entire life when this ended. It might be reasonable to make some accommodations before it happened. I turned to raise a brow at Callie, who nodded and looked at Celine. "Think we could hole up in your rooms while we digest our gains from this? If it's going to be as dramatic as he's implying we could use somewhere close by to weather the storm, so to speak."

Celine's smile was wry. "Of course. Given how much of our success we owe to you it is, quite literally, the very least we can do. You're always welcome in our rooms. Even if we hadn't passed you would be welcome any time. I feel we've been through enough together to be considered friends." Her voice was more animated than I had heard it before, and her face, while not as expressive as some, was less blank than usual. I was pretty sure this was her version of getting worked up. She was also holding hands with Benny, though she was careful not to actually look at him as she squeezed his fingers.

Professor Tricks finished up the rest of the presentation, telling us a few important bits of info like how the winners would be the focus of extra attention from the academy and would benefit from their marketing abilities, and how the stream actually worked as well as who would benefit from it most. He didn't look at us when saying any of this, and since we weren't exactly social with most of the other students no one except Fisher and MacDonald knew exactly who we were, despite having seen our names on the list.

Once that was done he released us to wait for the shuttles and then vanished into thin air again. I considered whether we should go over and talk to Fisher and MacDonald but decided to leave it alone for now. We could talk it over with them back at the Academy to make sure there weren't any hard feelings, but starting a conversation here would just draw attention to us a bit too early. I'd rather wait til after the big power up for people to start taking notice of us, and from her expression Callie was of the same opinion.

Finally the shuttles showed up. The things were just as fast as ever and we all climbed aboard and waited as they took off for the Academy grounds. The trip passed in a blur, just like the last time, and when we finally set down and climbed out we all headed for Grimmengaps dorm at top speed, determined to make it there before the stat points hit. The rest of the students were in just as big a rush, scattering as soon as we reached the campus. Luckily, no one got in our way and we made it just in time. As the door shut behind us, I saw a familiar scrawl of purple flames across my vision. It was time.