For the next few hours, Connor had been questioning and documenting every combatant's skills and stats with the help of Furina and Sylvia, each taking note of one of the two.
They both were diligent, seriously helping him with his right and left hand. Amidst all this, all Alya could do was watch.
She had wanted to help, but Connor told her to rest or encourage the survivors with Julian. She also noticed that Connor and Julian were trying to avoid each other as much as possible.
"I think I will appoint Furina as the Vice Commander and Mage of my squad. Her specs are matching for that position."
"But I want her in my squad. You're already too strong. Why do you need Furina?" Elena complained, clearly annoyed.
For some unknown reason, she did not like how Furina always tried to please him and get close to him. She was happy to have her squad and be the leader, but if possible, she wanted to be in Furina's position.
Connor shook his head as he replied, looking at Furina,
"Furina is good, but she can be better and would need help to go all out without worrying about her back. I will make her level up and grow stronger. You're already strong now, so you should do the same for the members of your squad. The entire purpose of this dungeon conquest is to increase the strengths of the weaker ones. I want everyone to be at least level 10 with decent skills to work as a team."
Furina was happier than she had appeared on the inside when Connor had assigned her such an important position.
'Finally, a chance to prove my worth and get stronger.' She had already heard about Elena's feat of almost defeating a Class One beast by herself. Connor only helped and assisted her when she was down, even letting her have the final kill to grow stronger with the SP boost.
Right now, Elena could be considered the undisputed No. 2 of their team. She was at level 21, though nobody knew except for Connor, but her Astral Pressure indicated how strong she was.
Furina also strived to grow exponentially like that. When Julian was their leader, he only focused on his own growth and needs. But Connor was different.
He handed out equipment and weapons obtained from the dungeon to those who deserved and suited it, based on their documentation. Connor was genuinely working to build an army. Furina had an inkling that Connor might be trying to conquer the entire city with this newly built army.
She did not want to miss such an opportunity to stand by his side as one of the top rulers of the new order he would build.
Elena also had similar thoughts and decided to let the matter with Furina go. She knew when to back off for the benefit of the team. She would be more than happy if her close friend got stronger.
A sigh escaped from her mouth as she decided to look at the other potential picks from the draft.
"I'll take Darvin Wells then. He has exceptional healing and enhancement skills that can boost my entire squad to perform better—"
"Hold it right there. Darvin has been my underling since the start, and you can't just take him like that," Julian protested, clearly annoyed by the lack of respect he was given.
Ever since these two took the lead, his entire stronghold had forgotten him, to the point that he was given the D-rank Delta Squad, something he considered the weaker side. He believed he was at least stronger than Sylvia and should have been assigned the Charlie Squad.
"Julian is right. You two are already strong, but you're monopolizing the best ones for yourselves," Sylvia added, supporting Julian, which even surprised him. But after a moment of contemplation, he reasoned that she was also speaking for herself.
Sylvia turned to face Connor as she asked, "Didn't you say that you wanted balanced teams? That the four squads currently have no hierarchy other than you? So why are you doing the draft by squad order? It should be fair that everyone gets a chance to pick who they want."
Connor was clearly at a crossroads. He had suggested the squads be balanced and only called dibs on Furina because he saw her potential, like Elena's, and wanted to guide her in her evolution paths. With a sigh, he called off Elena's proposal and decided to come up with a new strategy to pick the members.
They decided to rank everyone in tiers, where each leader could pick only one from each tier. Nobody complained as the picking was purely based on luck, using dice to decide.
With the exception of Furina, who was already picked as a Tier 1 combatant by Connor, the rest of the draft went smoothly. But there was one individual who wasn't happy with the result.
Alya was ranked Tier 3. The people in this rank were normally at level 6-8, and this infuriated her because she was at a higher level. It was just that her skills, which only complemented her archery, weren't that great. Inwardly, she blamed her skills for her shortcomings.
What made her more depressed was the fact that both of her best friends were at the top now. If Sylvia was included, she was left feeling left out and betrayed.
Though her best friends never ridiculed her, there were obvious gaps in their relationship now. The two had been busy for the past day sorting out the documents and managing the survivors. Alya clenched her fist when nobody called her name for Tier 2. They were only focused on picking those with good skills in their fields.
Connor had come up with positions to balance the squads:
The Mage (Mana-based damage dealer)
The Saint (Healer/Buffer/Support)
The Ranger (Ranged damage dealer)
The Tanker (Shield/barrier skills)
The DPS (Close-range main attacker)
2nd DPS ( Sub DPS )
"Each squad must have at least one person filling each position, and there must be at least two DPS members in a team. There can be a Sub-DPS and DPS," Connor reasoned when classifying them.
"Wait, this system you built—it sounds like you made them based on... a game?" Sylvia asked, intrigued by the names. She had often heard those terms from her brother.
"Of course they are. I played a lot of RPG games like Genshin and LoL when I was a teenager. I was even a pro..."
Sylvia regretted asking. Today, the squad leaders and the others found out that their leader was a certified Otaku and streamer. He even blurted out phrases like "My Waifu," which earned him a glare from Furina and Elena.
When Connor noticed their bewildered faces, he coughed, embarrassed, and continued the topic.
"There are even more positions, like Assassin or Tamer, but we haven't come across evolvers with such skills yet. At least for now, we need to move forward with these basic positions. Later, we can add or exchange combatants."
Connor was confident that as they moved to different dungeons, those positions would be available. For now, the current dungeon was a basic 1st order one, perfect for training the newbies.
As the discussion ended, Elena told Alya to stay back as the rest began leaving her room one by one. Elena had noticed something wrong with Alya since they returned from the dungeon raid.
" Is there something that's been on your mind Alya?" She gently asked with her with concern.
" N-No, I just.. You know I have been mentally tired from the dungeon experience, I guess I am still not used to this. It was only my second time raiding after all hehe.."
" You know I have known you since high school" Elena could easily detect when she is lying, it was just impossible for Alya to hide her true self from Elena. Perhaps that was one of the reasons why they were so close.
" I... I am just frustrated with myself, with my pathetic self" Alya lowered her head as she spoke in a low tone, She knew she was being pathetic getting jealous over her friend's success and she was not like this.
She used to be a cheerful girl from a good and loving family, But all that had changed since the world flipped.
Elena remained silent as she heard more of Alya's complaints, she was bursting all her grievances like a dam, from her dissatisfaction with being given Tier 3, to her weak skills compatibility and every excuse that didn't help her grow.
At one point she also said how jealous she felt when Furina got so strong thanks to her skills, but she again felt miserable for even feeling such emotions for her.
She saw no signs of Alya stopping, hence she got up from her bed and hugged her gently. That hug was the breaking point for Alya as she burst into tears. For a while, there was only a sobbing noise heard in the room.
"You know Alya, I am glad that you are my best friend"
"Huh"
"You remember the first time I killed?" Elena asked gently patting her back still not leaving the hug.
"Yeah, You were completely shaken, you were screaming... and then... I.... I hugged you"
" At that point, I was having a mental breakdown. My mind could not cope with all that was happening around us. The changes, the cruelty. It was not easy to adapt and I doubt that I will ever get used to it. But I am glad that you were there, to support me emotionally and take care of me, If anyone had ever seen me screaming like that my pride would have broken. Hell, If Connor had seen me like that I would have died of shame and embarrassment.. hehe"
Elena chuckled in a quiet hum elevating the tension in the room.
" What I mean to say Alya is that, It is fine. It is fine to be weak, to feel miserable. Nobody can be perfect, we all have times of misery and depression. But you what is not fine, It is not fine to stay the same. I will help you, Alya, not in the way you helped me, Because I can't do what you can do. But I will do my best to make you stronger, You are in my squad now, We will find skills that would match you well, So let's become stronger together, and then one day we can stand proud together"
" Sniff.. Sniff.. Elenaa.. You are such an Angel" Alya still trying to control her emotions said with a reddened face.
Elena wiped her tears with her sleeves. and they both got up and sat on the bed.
" Now now, cheer up and go wash your face Alya, You look like a mess hehe"
" You meanie" Alya still shaken came back to her usual self as she complained with a small pout on her disheveled but cute face.
" What happened to me being an angel?" Elena teased with a grin
" You are a mean angel" Alya replied as she entered the washroom, but as she closed the door she gave her a mischievous smile, " And you just smiled like Connor, ahh what a match, him being an otaku devil and our princess being a mean angel. Both are a match made in hell and heaven"
"Shut- Shut upp!" Elena threw a pillow at her, but she quickly closed the door.
" Do I really smile like him? Is this his influence on me" She mumbled to herself in a low voice as she covered her heated cheeks with her hands. But after a while, she unconsciously smiled liking the nicknames.