Fight [ 7 ]

Turning the clock to a few moments ago.

A distortion in space, ripped through the calm air of a desolate wasteland that was once a vibrant and thriving marsh. Only the streaks of water running down the cracks of the dried mud ground indicated that it had been a wetlands in the past.

It was uncertain what had happened here, but if one were to look closely they would notice something peculiar. The sparse streams of water had hints of purple infused into it, but since it was faint, it would be overlooked.

From the tear in space formed a large vortex and out from it, 9 people appeared. With their machetes at the ready, they exuded menacing auras.

A young man, seemingly of Korean descent, was the first to step forward. The man's name was Leonardo Choi, or Leo for short, the more than apparent leader of the group. Face full of determination, he looked around, scanning his area.

With that one glance he was able to gather his thoughts within an instance. He took note of every single detail of his environment.

From the dried husks, dead trees, to the innumerable amount of insect caracases. Assessing all the visual information in front of him within an instance, Leo arrived at a conclusion.

'Everything is as they described… it should be…'

Opening his mouth to speak, he was about to give some instructions to the group. Before he could speak a single word, two blue panels appeared in front of each of them.

[ Welcome to the Ascension Realm ]

┎ 

-You have been transported to the 45th Heavenly Fortress. 

-To complete the Ascension Trial, you must complete 3 Tasks. 

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[ Task 1 ]

┎ 

In 60 seconds, monsters will spawn around you and your team. Defeat the monsters and absorb their life essence.

- Life essence will be rewarded to the team that dealt the last blow to the monster.

- Life essence will be distributed evenly throughout the team at the end of each wave of monsters.

- Life essence will be converted into mana and awaken your physique.

Either survive 10 waves or reach the Fortress City at the center of the Heavenly Fortress.

- Waves end once all monsters are killed.

- Each wave will last 10 minutes and will start regardless of the completion of the previous wave.

- If the task is completed via reaching the Fortress City, the monsters will cease to spawn.

 >> All members of the team must pass through the City Gates as well the corpses of the dead team member(s) if applicable.

The number of spawned monsters is dependent on the size of the team.

- Teams with less than 10 members: 

 >> 1 monster will spawn for every corresponding member. Every subsequent round the number of monsters will increase by 2.

- Teams with 10 to 99 members:

 >> 5 monsters will spawn for every corresponding member. Every subsequent round the number of monsters will increase by 5.

- Teams with 100 or more members:

 >> 10 monsters will spawn for every corresponding member. Every subsequent round the number of monsters will increase by 20.

- Monsters will continue to spawn for dead team members.

 >> Remaining monsters will attack other trialee teams and absorb the life essence of the dead trialees.

You may bring up your task details by thinking about Task 1 with the intent to see this information.

┛

A timer appeared after the first sentence of the Task 1 panel was read aloud by the mysterious voice.

[ Time Remaining ( 60 Seconds) ]

The voice continued to speak aloud the information on the task. All of Leo's subordinates focused on it, ignoring their surroundings.

Leo, still looking forward, coughed to clear his throat. With a strong commanding voice he spoke, "Listen Up!"

With those two words, his 8 subordinates snapped to attention as it was a reflex. It seemed like this reaction was drilled into them.

"This is a lizardman's domain, get into formation 3. Drop the bags and pair up. Remember, formation 3."

As his orders entered their ears, the melodically robotic voice grew distant. Their eyes grew focus and followed Leo's instructions. 

Quickly, they made a rough row of duffle bags. The group split up, half rushed forward, turning around to face the rest when they reached about 50 feet or so away from Leo. They further split from each other giving each person 10 feet of space.

The remaining stood side by side with Leo, also giving each other 10 feet of space, mirroring the other group. Seeing the ones beside him still holding their machetes, Leo gave another order.

"Group B switch to your knives."

It was a calm and stern voice that did not allow for argument. Once they heard the command, the subordinates beside him did as they were told.

Leo knew that this was nerve racking for all of them and understood that they might not have been fully prepared. So he chose his next words carefully.

"Now that you're in position, ready yourselves to run and stab on my signal."

This sentence keyed in on the relevant and important information on formation 3, allowing the others to remember what they had forgotten in their unnerved states.

They sheathed their machetes and grabbed the knives holstered on their hips. At the same time they got into a sprinting position like they were in a relay race with batons in hand. All the while Leo went into a fighting stance and unsheathed a second machete. 

The timer ticked down slowly. Every single one of them, Leo included, stared straight in front of them. 

[ Time Remaining ( 3 seconds ) ]

[ Time Remaining ( 2 seconds ) ]

[ Time Remaining ( 1 seconds ) ]

[ Wave 1 ( In Progress ) ] [ Time Remaining ( 600 seconds ) ]

Like with Kai's group the same exact thing occurred in front of them, monsters began materializing a few feet away in the direction they were looking at. In a few seconds they would become fully corporeal and be an active threat.

Which also meant that Leo and his subordinates were not in any danger yet. They had time to act before the monsters came into being.

As such once he saw the eerie figures, Leo shouted, "NOW! GO!"