Even if I Die

The days passed swiftly. Every day, a new meeting would take place and the members of the family were briefed and prepared. 

However, it wasn't until the very last day that everyone learned of the weight of what they were about to do. 

This matter wasn't a joke, nor was it a game. It was one of the final opportunities they had to save Planet Earth, and the risk was proportional. 

In these days, the family didn't train them. It was useless. What progress could someone with no fighting experience make in a mere week or so? 

Even Sylas knew that this was a great weakness of his. He was at best an amateur boxer, and that was if he was generous with himself. All he had in his favor was his athletic build and decent stamina. 

Sylas wondered why they wouldn't have just called them over sooner, but then he realized that they already had. They had spared as much resources as they were willing to on the matter. 

They, the members of the Grimblade's branch families, were mostly ill-prepared, but was the same true of Lucius, Malachi, and Astrid? What of their direct subordinates? 

This was a clear dividing line. 

Calling them back was for nothing more than bolstering their administration with those intelligent enough to know to return. 

"Tonight," Lucius Grimblade began, "you will be given two choices. The first choice will be to enter the Aether Plane, and the second will be to remain here. If you pick the first, you will be thrown into a trial world, one where you're ill-prepared and have a better than 90% chance of dying. If you choose the second, you will be giving up on this chance and will have another option down the line to subordinate yourselves to a City Lord. 

"The Grimblade family will not make this choice for you. Regardless of what choice you make, we will be of one family and of one mind.

"These are the last matters we need to explain to you. As for the rest, once the Ascension begins, everything else will fall into place. 

"You are dismissed."

Lucius' words were much more forceful than Astrid's and he often spoke like a strict sergeant. His words were already laced enough with his intentions that he didn't need to make anything else clear. 

It was obvious the Grimblade family wanted them to choose the second option. 

… 

Sylas lay in bed, staring up at the ceiling. He subconsciously looked at his phone, checking the string of missed calls and unopened emails that would have usually filled him to the brim with anxiety. 

But right now, he was calm. 

Even though he had lied to his parents, to his little sister, even if he knew that death likely waited for him on the other side, he was calm. 

For the first time in his life, he was going to make the stupid, illogical decision. 

He had no combat experience, no hidden ace, nothing but the fragile brain squishing about in his skull. 

For some reason, his grandfather had known that he would make this choice, and he was probably the only one. 

His father and mother were so confident he would choose logic over the brashness of youth that they hadn't even bothered to have more than a casual conversation with him about it. Amusingly enough, his little sister was closer to his grandfather in this regard, and he had to assure her many times that he definitely wouldn't go. 

But he would go. He had to. 

He didn't have some savior complex, nor did he abhor the idea of being ruled by someone else so badly. After years in academia, he had gotten used to following rules, even when they were ridiculous. He had the discipline of a soldier. 

No… 

The real reason he was going was simply because he wanted to, because the idea filled him with excitement and pumped his cool blood with the heat a young man his age should have. 

Tick… Tick… 

The clock on the wall seemed to slow before a blinding blue light rushed over the whole of Earth. If one observed the change from the Moon, it would look as though a laser beam had suddenly collided with them, enveloping their entire world. 

And then the words appeared in his mind once again. Experiencing it for the second time, it felt so surreal. It was definitely only in his head, and yet with his eyes open, it felt like it had been inlaid into reality. 

[Summon Ascension Initiating…] 

[Summoned: Sylas Grimblade] 

[Enter Trial Ascension?] 

[Yes] [No] 

Sylas' lip curled. They made it sound so nice. 

Usually, a trial was supposed to be the easier version, the one where the training wheels would be on. 

But this was the exact opposite. 

In the Trial Ascension, the world would be stripped of all basic amenities, akin to Earth long before modern day. 

After this Trial Ascension was concluded, many helpful things would be added, such as System Cities, where things could be conveniently bought and traded. 

These were all differences drilled into his head by the Grimblades, likely to ensure that he wouldn't make the choice he was about to make. 

Sylas smiled. "Even if I die, I'm sure I'll see something interesting first."

[Yes]. 

Sylas vanished… but Earth remained frozen in time, a state it would remain in until the Trial Ascension was complete.