TAKE ON ME [Survival LITRPG Apocalypse]

The crackle and pop of burning wood was a steady white noise in the background of Tess's turbulent thoughts.

Her Mom and Finn relaxed in Loo's invisible mana stream. Loo was animated and babbled endlessly about her abilities; it didn't look like anyone was really paying attention, but she didn't seem to care and continued talking anyway.

Yet, amid the warmth and camaraderie, a restless energy thrummed in Tess's veins; an inherited trait from her father that made idleness feel like a sin.

Tess concentrated, and her translucent information sheet materialized in front of her. Her gaze roamed over the listed skills; they all seemed so . . . straightforward. Not much to experiment with. A twinge of envy nipped at her as Loo explained her plans to develop a magical ecosystem to anyone within earshot.

Amber was perched on a nearby log, her athletic form tense like a coiled spring.

"Hey," Tess whispered, leaning closer to her. "You want to try and like . . . practice, or something? I can't shake off this itch to do something."

Amber's lips twitched into a grin, her eyes gleaming. "Hundred percent!" She looked at Tom, who was chatting with someone nearby. "Let's escape next time my Dad moves away."

"Deal," Tess nodded.

She summoned her [Battle Map] with a quick mental swipe, watching as it unfolded in the corner of her vision like an ancient canvas. Blue dots—friendlies—peppered the terrain, while green dots—her family and the Damascus family—clustered near the heart of the camp. Thankfully, there were no red dots.

"Okay, let's see . . . " Tess murmured, dragging her finger through the air over the map. With deliberate swipes, she tested assigning movement commands and marking kill priorities. If the map was a chessboard, she—the strategist—was intent on mastering the game.

Wish I could see everyone's health and mana bars.

[Would you like to enable health and mana bars for a modified party overview?]

Tess leaned back in shock. "Absolutely!"

Amber sat up. "Tess, I just got a prompt asking me to share my info with you?"

"Same here," Finn said from across the fire.

Over the next few minutes, all of the Damascus and Robinson family members had received and approved the prompt.

Colorful bars materialized above each green dot on Tess's map, pulsating gently to indicate their status. Available abilities and buffs hovered beside them.

As a test, Tess mentally prodded Finn's [Floral Surge] healing ability.

"Uh, you want me to heal someone?" Finn said, his eyebrows raised.

"How did you know I wanted you to do that?"

"Indicator popped up saying you requested I used the skill."

So many possibilities.

Tess mentally stepped through several different map options, when she came across a particularly helpful prompt.

[Would you like to enable shared party visibility for health, mana, abilities, buffs and debuffs for enhanced team coordination? Note: While in combat, the Battle Map spell is modified to draw extra mana.]

Obviously I want it!

She selected yes.

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"Hey, Amber, activate [Dodge] for me?" Tess said, not taking her eyes off the map.

"Sure!" came the easy reply.

As Amber began a flawless [Dodge] maneuver, the corresponding ability label became visible beside her nametag. Now, all the family members would be able to see each other's active abilities and health. That was a lot of shared information, and all it cost Tess was a little extra mana.

Tess leaned back against a log, her gaze never leaving the map as she absorbed every detail of the abilities laid out before her. Each member of their group was a constellation of potential. She envisaged scenarios and combinations of their skills that could hopefully turn the tide of any battle. Each rotation of her mind sparked ideas for tactical formations and synergistic attacks.

The fire crackled, sending a cascade of sparks skyward. Tess unfolded herself from the ground, stretching her muscles into readiness. The adults had drifted away to talk with some of the other people, and she was yearning to transition theory into practice.

"Come on," Tess whispered to Amber, "let's find a quiet spot to work on some drills." She hefted her Sword.

"Lead the way," Amber replied with a grin. She stretched like a cat as she stood.

Finn stood too.

"Finn, you stay here," said Tess. "You're . . . not ready for this."

"Oh. Uh . . . all right." He sat back down, his shoulders slumped.

They put a little distance between themselves and the campfire, and found a relatively open space.

Amber turned to Tess. "So, attack each other on three?"

"What, are you serious?" Tess shook her head. "No, that's not how we—"

"Absolutely not." Kate's voice was stern. She walked over to the girls, her gaze fixed on the Dagger in Amber's hand.

"Chillax, you guys are too easy. I was obviously joking, Mom. I wasn't going to—"

"Not funny. Get some sticks and practice," Kate said.

Amber and Tess blinked.

"It's a good idea. I'll stay close for my healing aura and keep watch on the woods." Kate settled onto a nearby log. "Just be careful with your eyes, and watch out for splinters. Don't get hurt, or your Dad will kill me."

Tess and Amber quickly located two large gnarled sticks poking out of the trampled snow.

Amber had a giant smile on her face.

"Okay . . . can we start by taking turns practicing our abilities?" Tess asked.

Amber nodded. "I'm down. You're the boss."

Tess thought for a moment. "How about if I try hitting you with this stick first, then we can compare how difficult it is to hit you while [Dodge] is active."

"I'm good for whatever. Let's do this!"

Tess took a deep breath and gripped the rough bark of her stick. She raised it and charged at Amber. She swung her weapon with the precise aim provided by her passive ability [Weapon Skill], and struck Amber several times.

Each time Tess landed a blow, Amber let out a huff of frustration, but urged her to keep attacking.

As the fight wore on, Tess could see that Amber still hadn't activated her [Dodge] ability, but she was getting harder to hit as time went on. Amber gracefully incorporated nearby trees and rocks into her movements, using them to her advantage by jumping onto or off them, rolling past Tess's attacks, and even flipping over one of Tess's swings.

"Okay, activate your [Dodge]," Tess said. "Let's see what it does."

The label appeared next to Amber's nameplate.

Tess wasted no time, and lunged toward Amber with the stick.

She swung with all her skill and speed, but it was futile. Amber moved like water, effortlessly ducking and dodging Tess's attacks.

Tess could only connect once during the entire duration of [Dodge], and even then it was just a glancing blow to Amber's arm.

Amber did a happy dance. "That was fun!"

"Okay, my turn. You attack me."

Tess took up a defensive stance. She was curious to see how much her passive [Weapon Skill] would aid her in defensive movements.

Amber swung at Tess several times. However, Amber did not have a passive weapon skill, and her attacks were random and sloppy. In fact, they were so bad Tess decided she couldn't continue until she relayed some of the 'basics' she knew from her [Weapon Skill] ability.

Over the next two hours, Tess let all the knowledge she knew on dagger fighting flow from her [Weapon Skill] as she worked with Amber: including how to hold a dagger; footwork; twisting the hips when stabbing; and target zones. Amber was all business, and she was a fast learner.

"All right, let's go again. Try to hit me."

This time, Tess felt her passive ability kick in as she knocked the incoming attacks aside with her stick. Amber came at her several times, her face growing redder. However, Tess had settled into a rhythm, and she was never in danger of being hit.

Amber stopped with a growl. She looked around, huffed, then bent over to pick up a second stick, bouncing its weight in her left hand. She nodded at Tess, then came in fast.

Tess had to backpedal as she slapped away Amber's attacks. She was able to block them, but the continuous barrage left her with no chance to strike back.

Amber kept up her 'double-dagger' assault. However, Tess once again found her rhythm, and she was able to slowly turn the tide and put Amber on the defensive.

Amber rolled to the side, and a small smile tugged at her lips. Tess saw the [Shiv] ability flash to life next to Amber's nameplate.

Amber tried to catch Tess off-guard with a quick poke to the back of the knee. In a corner of her vision, Tess's own [Counter Strike] ability lit up, and she activated it. She deflected Amber's attack and spun close to her, delivering a backhanded smack with the stick that would have been a deep, biting cut if she was actually using her Sword.

"That was amazing!" Amber was unfazed.

"If you had used your [Dodge] ability I would have never hit you, and I'd be the dead one. We are going to have to be real smart with our abilities and cooldowns."

Tess asked if she could practice with her target calling and movement commands. She would not have time to focus only on her [Battle Map] during a fight, so she wanted to test her ability to control the map during combat.

"Amber, I'm going to try and communicate a battle plan without speaking."

"Let's do it. I'm happy, as long as I'm not sitting."

Tess came up with a plan where they would both rush to a designated target tree and attack simultaneously from different sides. Tess pretended that they were in a real battle; she quickly brought up her [Battle Map], hastily marked the tree as the target, and sent the battle plan to Amber.

"Got it!"

Amber rolled forward and stabbed the tree on the wrong side. Even worse, she hadn't waited for Tess. However, when Tess looked at her hastily drawn map, she realized she had made mistakes with the arrows. She also forgot to set an attack timer, causing Amber to attack too soon.

Tess discussed her errors with Amber, and went through some of the available battle indicators and controls. However, she could spend days going through all the possible symbols.

It was overwhelming.

After scrolling through a few more options, Tess chose the most obvious indicators, and they tried again.

They rolled in unison and attacked the tree's 'legs' at exactly the same time.

Kate, who had patiently sat with them during the entire training session, smiled and clapped in approval.

Tess and Amber stepped back, breathing heavily but smiling.

Guttural snarls and growls echoed from the shadows.

Red dots appeared on Tess's [Battle Map]. "Looks like training is over."