Cue Training Montague!

Even Axel had a confused look on his face at Admin's words.

"Secondary ability?" He asked.

"Yes." Admin replied. She held up her hand and digistructed a mini version of Jayden's bow in the palm of her hand. "Take Jayden's weapon for example. Its primary ability is that it can shoot arrows made out of unholy energy and he can choose from a few different ones." As she spoke the tiny bow in her hand shot out mini arrows to further illustrate her point.

"But," she continued as the bow began to glow an odd crimson color, "that's not all it can do. Cursed weapons have more energy than you think packed inside it. They are made to contain that energy and release it in different ways. The more you pour into it the more you unlock."

Jun scratched his chin. "When you put it like that, are you saying that there's even more options to our weapons than just the secondary ability?"

"That is correct. Thanks to the God Core System, it allows you to connect to your weapon in ways unknown before. However, each weapon is very different from each other so only someone like Conquest would know all the possibilities. Since that is now impossible, you'll have to discover it through your training."

Axel could feel the excitement starting to finally roll back through him. "Oh hell yes. This is the part where the hero begins his journey to get reborn even stronger before!"

"You wish." Jayden responded. However, it was clear that Axel wasn't the only one excited as each of the slayers had a more confident look on their face as they each began to think of the possibilities that could await them with the right direction.

"Three days." Admin stated. "Three days of intense training. I have created a special schedule for each of you."

*****************

[ The Next Day ]

Admin walked around her state of the art complex as the slayers had been hard at work for the past 24 hours now. The ball of energy at the top of the dome released steady energy within the space of the dome so that their connections to the God Core System were momentarily strengthened.The hope being that they can exploit the slightly stronger connection to get to tap into the power they needed.

She looked over to Jayden who was busy shooting arrows against a large wall marked with targets that absorbed the energy of the arrow of impact to prevent constant explosions. That same technology was applied to a locked bracelet that he wore around his arm. The bracelet prevented energy regeneration by draining his energy at a faster rate with each attack. Several hours in, Jayden was breathing heavy and felt weak.

"Come onnnnnnn!" Jayden pulled back on the energy string and released a single arrow that he immediately began to split at a fast rate to see how far he can go with splitting. With each split more energy was drained. After the third split before reaching the wall the arrows fizzled out before even impacting it.

Jayden fell to one knee. "Huff...huff...this is rough...". He looked down at the bracelet and a digital screen constructed above it showing an array of stats such as his current energy level, his heart rate, and the current status of his system connection. They all wore one of these, but the effect of the bracelet was different for each slayer.

The system connection showed '45%'. The God Core System was amazing, but not perfect. Since these were basically rigged connections to the One Core they weren't the most stable connection. It was like dial-up internet. By pushing their limits and consuming cores, they can strengthen the connection and thereby receive even more power from the system.

Admin watched from a distance as Jayden looked at his stats, comparing them to an hour ago as if there would be a change by now.

"With the Oath of the Serpent, Jayden has the potential to have supreme crowd control. More than anyone else here. But his arrows lack true piercing power. Not to mention the arrows get significantly weaker with each split....Which is fine for run of the mill angels, but basically useless against bigger threats."

She turned her attention over to Iris who was locked inside of a transparent cube. She sat crisscrossed on the floor in her full armor. Her bracelet locked in the fusion of energy between the cursed armor and Iris - which meant that she could not take it off as long as she wore the bracelet. The cube was completely sound proof and released a chemical into the air inside that greatly increased mental stimulation.

Iris had a slightly different schedule to everyone else. To reach the next level, her challenge was 100% mental. She sat completely still as she was waging a battle that no one else could see.

Admin still had mental connections to all of them so she could sense the immense stress that her mental state was under. But there was no other way. Her bracelet showed '23% system connection' but there was also another meter on hers that read 'Mental Stability'. That was currently sitting at '61%'.

"She has the most one shot power among the group. But the stress that the armor of Requiem induces, it might as well be useless in her hands. Currently anyways. She can only get off a shot before she caves. We'll definitely need her if we're going to change the face of this war."

Further off was Jun - he actually suggested his own training schedule which fell in line with what Admin was originally thinking. He stood blindfolded on the giant stage in the middle of the room. His clothes had cuts all over them and the stage had drops of dried blood everywhere.

This is the only way I'll progress, Jun thought. This is what I know. This is what has made me.

Several digital versions of Athos appeared around the ring. Jun took a deep breath and they all took off at once. Jun listened for their footsteps and the way their bodies disrupted the air around him.

< Continuous Flow >

Jun weaved in and out of the flock of Athos, parrying one and then slashing through another. The speed of all of them was overwhelming however - he was taking almost as much as he was dealing despite the feat he was already accomplishing.

"Focus, Jun! Sharpen your senses! Sharpen your blade!" He yelled to himself. The bracelet around his arm increased the density of his weight by x0.5 so that he could work to increase his overall speed. It showed a '68% system connection'.

Admin watched as Jun moved around with grace yet power at the same time.

"The promise of this one is much more than originally anticipated. Within just a day he had already thought of a new way to use an ability he just learned. At this rate he could have this figured out within the next day. It's clear his fight with Athos has broadened his thinking. Even if he himself doesn't want to admit it."

Finally, she turned her head to a far corner where Axel was. "Then there's this one."

Axel was on all fours, his sword thrown several feet away in anger. Sweat poured down his face and there was a look of desperate shock on his face. The bracelet on his arm showed '17% system connection'.

"What the actual fuck is going on?!"