Chapter 198 - What It Takes to Lead

After the answer to Alys' question was given it was Julie that made the first move, which Jien had fully expected. What he hadn't expected was that she pulled away all of the female members to her own huddle. She had even done so rather forcefully, seemingly only struggling with Alys, though not due to a lack of strength but instead the fact that Alys was an escape artist of sorts, finding ways to escape Julie's reach if just barely with each attempt to grab her.What Alys didn't expect was for Jien to somehow step behind her without her noticing and give a slight nudge that pushed her just within Julie's grip. When the petite girl looked back she only saw a friendly smile, and a slight hint of mirth in Jien's eyes. She almost snarled at being betrayed but knew deep down that this was all just for training and in some sense, for fun.The girls were huddled shortly after and just from what Jien was able to see it was clear that Julie was attempting to take the lead. Though whether that was going to work out was still up in the air. Jien looked away to take stock of his now all male team and think about how he would like to arrange them. They all waited for his word, deferring to him without it being mentioned by anyone. This was mostly due to the fact that everyone but Andrew was a part of his previous team and knew he could lead them well. On the other hand Andrew was fidgeting timidly as it stood, unlikely to make a comment unless addressed.With just five members to work with things would be a bit more complex. There was a reason that most of the units in the academy appeared to be made of at least ten members. The larger a unit the more gaps one can fill in, but if it becomes too large it would become hard to control on the battlefield. The truth was that splitting the unit into two teams could be great in that it would add flexibility or it could be a disaster in that it would create gaps in their formations.Jien was sure that the academy and whatever system they used to group the ten of them together didn't expect this kind of resolution. He wasn't even sure if the instructors wouldn't cause them trouble for it. The possibility existed that the academy would force them back into a unit of ten regardless of their personal choices. Jien could only choose to worry about that issue later and work on what was in front of him.The formation he chose to start with was what he felt was optimal given the members of his five man squad. Barret would play the scout and ambush or restrain everyone in the other squad beyond Julie. Given Julie's previously display it had become very clear that she would be difficult to take down. So, rather than trying to take her down it would be the job of Bernard as the vanguard to play a certain level of decoy in drawing Julie away from the others. Jien would play a mix of Controller and Knight, leading the team and providing support to either Barret or Bernard as needed. That would leave Andrew on healing and Lesley who would defend him and provide ranged support.Jien had thought that it was likely that it wouldn't be too hard to work with the simple plan of action they had discussed. What he didn't expect was that despite how brutish Julie seemed at time and how little training she had received as a leader, that she had truly taken the short amount of study time she was given to heart. The formation she had chosen was simple, but the efficiency of it when under her leadership was excellent.Alys was up from as a scout just like Jien had thought she would be. However rather than standing on the opposite side of the arena from Barret to be able to sneak past their defenses she faced the stoic boy head on. Julie had given herself the role of Vanguard and controller, holding her shield in front of her with her spear resting on the top of its edge. Robyn took the position of rearguard and seemingly healer as she had a small pack on her belt holding two vials with a green liquid in them. Rosalind and Olivia appeared to have been set as Knights, taking ready stances with their weapons held tightly in hand.Jien knew that just based on this formation it may be a hard fight. From what he could tell Julie had either talked to the girls to determine their strengths or was able to figure them out on her own. Of course there was always room for variation as they would be experimenting with after this match, but she seemed to have found a strong combination. Now it came down to whether she would be able to lead her team as successfully as she had set their formation.