Chapter 224: You Can't Hide

The rapid change left everyone a bit confused as to what they should be doing for the day, as their whole schedule had just been cancelled. The members who were on the media team were close to panic, though.

They were supposed to start broadcasting in under an hour, and they no longer had a story to report.

Just nothing.

But within seconds, they latched onto the best opportunity that they had left. The events in the field weren't classified, only the ones to do with the System Stones. Everyone else would remember the timeline mostly as it was, only where it involved the System Stones were the memories of those involved blurred.

"You can be the story. You Elites, who managed to get one hundred percent of the Commander Rank kills in an entire zone for a week. Yes, that's perfect for tonight's news. Please don't leave, we have to film thirty minutes of footage that needs to go on air in an hour." One of the clergy assigned to news releases pleaded.

"We already have the footage of you in front of the official background, so we can do informal interviews here, and then fill the time with reporter explanations. It will be perfect, we even have stock footage of Giants, Ogres and other monsters to work with." Another of the reporters agreed.

The Elites all sighed, while Tessa rolled her eyes as Lotus vanished beneath the table.

"She knows that we know where she went, right?" One of the reporters asked.

"Yes, but she's hoping that you will forget about her before she has to be on the news." Tessa agreed.

"Karl, hide me in Rae's space, they'll never look there." Lotus pleaded.

"You can't put living things in there. Well, maybe I could, but it might bind you to me like Rae is." Karl laughed.

Lotus paused like she was actually weighing the option, then came back out from under the table.

"Fine, but a short interview, for the Nature Goddess, and no trying to make me famous." She reluctantly agreed.

The room was quickly rearranged so that they could do multiple interviews at the same time, each facing the walls, which conveniently were created from multiple panels with identical patterns, so it would look like they were filming them one after another in the same studio.

Karl was led to the actual podium stage instead of one of the identical spots, and he sighed.

"You know, Commander Alice is the leader of the team." He reminded them.

The Priestess with him nodded happily.

"But you have a Lightning Cerro." She replied.

Karl chuckled, understanding where they were going with this.

"Alright, let's get this rolling."

The reporter gestured to the cameramen, who gave them a thumbs up as Karl adjusted his position to face the camera that was over the reporter's left shoulder.

The interview would be taken from two angles, so the person speaking could speak toward the camera without an unnatural turn away from the interviewer. That would also give them plenty of room to call out Thor, who Karl and the reporter were hoping would become the star of the evening news.

"Good evening, everyone. This is Sister Clara, with you again, to provide a special report regarding the topic of the week among the active combat Elites. For those of you who missed the beginning of the broadcast, there was a group of Elites on a defensive mission this past week who managed to score one hundred percent of the Commander Rank kills for an entire zone.

That's right, they single-handedly managed to contain the Commander Rank threats in their combat zone, and we have them here at the Capital Cathedral Studio for a quick interview before they return to their regularly scheduled duties.

With me right now is Karl, an Ascended Rank Elite student of the Divine Golden Academy. Can you tell us where you came from, and possibly say hello to those who are important to you?" She asked.

"Of course. I come from Lithium Mine Village, and I would be remiss if I didn't at least say hello to my loving parents, Jake and Ella. Plus, a special shout out to the miners of the third shift. I wish I could say I miss working with you, but I really don't miss the bottom of the mines." Karl replied with a genuine laugh.

The reporter smiled, and Karl knew that when this aired, the mines would be celebrating like crazy to have made the news.

The third shift was six in the evening to midnight, the usual shift for students, though they were sent back up at the halfway mark, so they only worked six until nine, and they would be ready for school in the morning.

"A miner turned Beast Master. I'm certain your hometown is very proud to call you one of their own, especially as an Ascended Rank Elite, already on the front lines while you're still in school.

Tell us, what is it like, working in the wilderness?" She asked.

[Make up a pretty lie.] The cameraman was silently shouting at Karl as he realized that Karl had never done one of these interviews before.

"Well, I must say that the experience is greatly improved when you have a Nature Priest with you. With the blessing of their goddess to create all sorts of plants, including spices, dinner becomes much more pleasant, both for myself and for my bonded companions." Karl replied, leading the reporter in the right direction, for which he could see the thankfulness in her eyes, though her expression remained professional.

"I have heard wonderful things about your bonded beasts, from which your Class gets its name. Might we meet one of them today?" She asked, following the cues.

"Of course. Thor, would you come out and lay down next to me?" Karl spoke out loud.

If he didn't lay down, the Lightning Cerro would be mostly out of the camera's frame, and that would just annoy the staff.

Thor settled in with his head right next to Clara's chair, but facing the front, where the reporter could lean forward to pet his head, and he would be in the shots of both of them, but not in the way of the upper body of either.

He instinctively knew where he needed to be, and the reporter smiled as she stroked his head between his eyes, exactly as Lotus had instructed her to do while everyone was waiting here to see what was going on.

While Karl was gone for a secondary interview, that was what they had done. Sat and waited and shared gossip.

"He is a lovely one, isn't he. For our viewers at home, Thor is an adult male Lightning Cerro, and we don't recommend that you approach them in the wild, but this one is quite tame and sociable." She explained as Thor made a happy rumble.

Karl smiled and nodded in agreement. "Not only is he possibly the most social member of the group, he's also an incredible front-line fighter. His Lightning Barrier can defend him against the strongest of Ascended Rank attacks, and he works well with others to strategize and control the movement of the monsters we are clearing from the wilderness before they can threaten the nearby towns."

Thor nodded happily, and then moved his head to bump up against her legs when the reporter sat back upright and stopped patting him.

The gesture made the camera operators and a number of the others in the background laugh. Thor was precisely the spokesperson that they needed on camera today, it was impossible not to love him.

"Can you tell us a little about a memorable battle? I know the others in the group have been asked the same thing, but I won't mind if it's the same one as one of them has mentioned." The reporter asked with genuine interest in her soft blue eyes.

Karl smiled at the camera. "Well, I have one in mind, and I'm not sure if it's the same one as the others have mentioned. We were on patrol and had just finished a fight with a group of Ogres when Hawk, our scout, informed us of a group of Hobgoblins who were giving the military unit we were attached to some trouble.

We rushed back to the scene, and found that the Hobgoblins had a shaman with them, healing the filthy monsters as the Elites of the army fought a valiant battle toward the centre of the Hobgoblin formation, where the cowardly little shaman was hiding.

Now, Thor here is a good bit larger than your average Hobgoblin, and he just plowed right through them, and tossed that Goblin Shaman twenty metres in the air, where our ranged attacks could take it out."

Karl accompanied the explanation with hand gestures, and at the right moment, Thor gave a flip of his head, showing the cameras how to toss a Goblin.

The camera operators were both giving Karl enthusiastic gestures, while the reporter smiled and nodded along.

"It sounds like quite the scene. How did the battle end?" She asked more seriously.

"Only minor injuries among the military unit that our clerics healed before the battle was even over. A resounding victory."