0.2 Awakening (Full)

[ Ascension Realm - Fortress 45, Time Elapsed ( 5 minutes ) ]

Kai fell straight on his back as he felt the full force of Sammi's impressive tackle. Still he did not let go of Sia, causing her to fall beside the two.

Sammi was still in a panicked state, as it was not even 5 seconds ago that she saw her two friends being consumed by some sort of weird purple vortex. She had closed her eyes to brace for impact. Her mind was in chaos, but noticing that nothing was happening to her, she quickly opened them.

To her dismay, they were now longer on the packed sidewalk of the bustling city of New York. Instead what she saw was a barren land of dry and coarse dirt. Surrounding this seemingly endless wasteland were curved mountains seeming to point to a certain direction. 

She tried to follow where they were pointing, but another holographic box obscured her vision. This immediately brought back memories of what happened a mere 5 minutes ago.

That same holographic box appeared before Kai and Sia.

[ Welcome to the Ascension Trial - Fortress 45 ]

[ Task 1 ]

┎ 

In 30 seconds wild monsters will spawn around you and your team. Defeat them and absorb their life essence.

Life essence will go 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

Either survive 100 waves or reach the city at the center of the Fortress Island.

Each wave will occur every 6 minutes.

The number of monsters will depend on the number of people in your team and will increase with every successive wave.

For Teams with less than 10 members, 2 will spawn per member. 1 additional monster per wave.

For Teams with 10 to 99 members, 4 will spawn per member. 2 additional monsters per wave.

For Teams with 100 or more, 10 will spawn per member. 5 additional monsters per wave.

Monsters will continue to spawn for dead team members

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

  ┛

[ Time Left ( 30 seconds ) ]

Reading the first line, Kai hurriedly rushed to his feet, pushing the dazed Sammi off of him. He felt some soreness on his right rib cage. By the time he got up, 9 seconds had already passed. Luckily for him the melodic robotic voice once again ran in his mind to reiterate the details of the task.

Knowing that he couldn't digest all the information, he decided to get into a fighting stance. He prepared himself to fight the incoming monsters with the one legged stand Jack gave him.

Sia was also quick on the uptake. She had taken off her purse and readied herself to swing it like a chained mace. Then she moved a few feet away to give herself room to swing her purse. Sammi however was still in a daze.

The time quickly ticked down.

[ Time Left ( 3 seconds ) ]

[ Time Left ( 2 seconds ) ]

[ Time Left ( 1 seconds ) ]

[ Wave 1 ( In Progress ) ] [ Time Left ( 360 seconds ) ]

The first task had begun.

In front of Kai 2 ethereal figures started to materialize. They were short, only about 3 and half feet tall (106.68 cm). A height barely reaching Kai's elbows.

Within a few seconds their forms came into being. In terms of overall appearance, they seemed to have similarities to goblins from fantasy games and novels.

However, what differentiated them was their skin and forearms. Traditionally goblins would be depicted with green skin, but the ones facing Kai were purple as if the goblins were filled with toxins and poisons.

Notably the color of purple deepened towards their forearms. In fact even their fingertips and claw-like fingernails were pitch black.

Seeing this, Kai's memories of all the fantasy media he had consumed over the years started to rush to the forefront of his mind. He started to suspect that getting punctured by the goblin's forearms would likely get them poisoned.

So he shouted, "Don't let them hit you with their claws. It might be poiso…"

"SKREEEEEE!!!"

Before he could finish, the two monsters had finished materializing and were already lunging towards him. Thankfully for Kai, he had not lost focus and had been preparing for the monsters to attack.

Through his careful observation, he was able to anticipate their trajectory and where they would land. He noticed that they had lunged at him like apes and would likely slam their fist towards him, so he took a side step to his right and twisted his body to face their sides.

Kai took this opportunity to swing the one legged stand at their unguarded heads. Despite his unstable stance, he mustered enough force to severely injure one of the purple goblins and knock the other into a dazed state.

Both were sent flying a few feet. It was obvious that they didn't weigh much. Even so, Kai felt a bit winded moving that fast and from his shaking arms, it was evident that these goblins were not as frail as they seemed.

'Fuck! Aren't goblins supposed to be weak?!'

While he thought this, he started to rush towards the two, but he saw that Sammi was still on the ground as another pair of the purple monstrosities lunged at her in his peripheral vision.

'Shit!'

Thankfully Kai had not moved much and was able to get to Sammi in less than a second. He used his momentum to shoulder tackle them.

This all happened in a mere 5 seconds.

At the same time that all this was happening, Sia also jumped into action as the 2 ethereal figures were materializing. However, unlike Kai who waited for the monsters to attack first and counter attack afterwards, she much preferred to strike first.

When she noticed the monsters were materializing in front of her she started to swing her purse in a circular motion. As soon Sia saw them almost fully formed, she launched the purse at their heads while still holding onto the strap.

It was perfectly timed, just as the purse was about to pass through the first goblins head its body materialized around the purse. It's head had essentially fused with the purse.

The goblin seemed as though it was suffocating as it desperately gasped for air while using its arms to grasp at its neck. But that was the least of its problems as in the next instant it was sent crashing into the goblin beside it. Thus causing the other goblin to fall prone in a dazed state.

Sia didn't take this opportunity for granted as she continued to swing her purse in a circular motion around her. She tried to imitate some of her teammates from the track team by mimicking the hammer throw techniques.

'C'mon Sia swing. Swing! Don't you DARE fuckin' let go…'

However, instead of launching the purple monster in the stratosphere, Sia instead used it to build her momentum. She spun 3 or 4 times before slamming the goblin onto its kin.

Red blood with a violet hue splattered all over the place creating a gruesome sight. Even so, the purple goblins were alive, severely injured, but still alive.

She was out of breath, but nonetheless she walked over to them to finish the job.

Back on the other side, Kai was too preoccupied by the Sammi's pair of goblins to notice what Sia had done. He along with the 2 monsters fell off balance and crashed into the ground. Which had momentarily stunned the 2 goblins for half a second.

Just enough time for Kai to stab one of the goblin's guts with the metal tip of the stand. It wasn't not enough to pierce the skin, but it would surely leave the goblin with some internal injuries.

Kai used the stand to lift himself up and at the same time using his weight to impale the pinned goblin. He heard it exhale its last breath and couldn't help but shiver at the thought of him having to face death himself.

Kai lost a bit of focus as he had a delayed reaction to the other goblin regaining its balance and launching itself towards him. Due to this Kai couldn't fully dodge in time and allowed the goblin to scratch his left arm tearing apart his hoodie sleeve. The goblin landed to his left while he turned to face it.

"Ugggh…"

Blood started to leak out of his arm as he let out a low growl. Kai knew that he couldn't let this faze him because he knew if he did he would end up dead and he was also starting to feel sluggish.

'That's probably the poison.'

Before the poison completely immobilized him, Kai wanted to take care of the gremlin before him. So he gripped the stand and swung it while rotating his whole body 360 degrees. Using his built up momentum he brought down the stand on the back of the goblin's small head that was about to turn towards him.

It was a fatal hit causing its skull to concave inwards and blood to spurt out of its orifices. Clearly it was dead.

He had killed two, but now he was breathing heavily. Kai was heaving and his vision was blurring. Obviously the poison had progressed faster than he expected. He couldn't keep fighting in this state.

Yet he still took a step forward towards the first 2 goblins. Kai stumbled, lost his balance and fell to one knee in the process.

[ Wave 1 ( In Progress ) ] [ Time Left ( 339 seconds ) ]

[ Ascension Realm - Fortress 45, Time Elapsed ( 6 minutes ) ]

Sammi, who was still on the ground, saw Kai fall to one knee, snapping her out of her dazed state. She got up and ran to him with a worried expression on her face.

Sammi intended to help him up. It was the very least she could do for him after he saved her life.

Once she had gotten close enough, Sammi saw that Kai's face had gone pale, losing almost all of its color. Her worry started to intensify as she didn't know how to help him other than helping him regain his footing to stand.

Feeling Sammi's helping hands, Kai started to talk in an exhausted voice.

  "Sammi, go kill those purple goblins. The wave… I think the wave ends after… mhm… we kill all of them. Hopefully, I can get healed afterwards."

He pointed to the 2 goblins he had previously dazed and severely injured. Kai also gave Sammi the one-legged stand to use as a weapon.

Sammi upon receiving the stand was still a bit scared at what Kai tasked her to do. To say that she was nervous was an understatement. 

It was clear to see that she was shaking, but when she looked at Kai's pleading look all she could do was nod and resolve herself to kill those goblins.

"O-Okay."

She gave a short nod as she began to walk towards the goblins about 20 feet away.

By now, Kai had stabilized himself and was able to stand on his own. Although, he still felt a little light headed due to the poison.It seemed like the poison was fast acting but temporary as his face started to regain color.

Still the poison had taken its toll on him, exacerbating his exhaustion and draining his remaining stamina.

With her shaking hands, Sammi gripped the stand with her left hand and walked to the goblin that was now regaining its bearings.

Obviously the little monstrosity had recovered from its dazed state. Seeing this, Sammi who had just been a normal girl a mere few minutes ago, could not help but freeze up.

It was far from expected for Sammi to instantly get accustomed to fighting monsters minutes after being teleported to an unknown place.

What was unexpected, was how easily Kai and Sia were able to adapt to their situation. It was weird, almost as if they were prepared for this. 

She stared right into the bloodthirsty eyes of the goblin. Sammi felt a shiver go down her spine as the purple goblin met her gaze. When it noticed the redhead's hesitation, the goblin instantly launched itself towards the tall girl who had lowered her guard.

"SKREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!"

'Fuck! No, I'm gonna die…'

'Move, move, move. MOVE!!!'

'Why can't I move?!'

Sammi knew that the goblin was gonna land an attack on her if she didn't dodge, but she could not get her body to move. It was as if she was stuck.

Just as the ape-like arms of the goblins were about to smash the girl's head in, a streak of red and purple flew past Sammi's head, crashing into the body of the attacking goblin.

It was smashed into the ground cracking the dry and coarse earth. The goblin was severely injured from the impact of whatever hit it.

"Kill it…"

Sammi heard an exhausted voice call out, which brought her back to her senses.

'Right… I must kill it, otherwise we die.'

She shrugged off the fear that was gripping at her heart and gathered all the bravery she could muster up to rush forward. Her expression became resolute once again.

Once Sammi was face to face with the goblin, she realized that the thing that crashed into the goblin was the mangled corpse of another goblin.

Its rib cage was caved in and blood was leaking from all of its orifices. All of the goblin's limbs were broken, it seemed as though its bones were shattered. But the most curious thing about the corpse was the leather strap attached to its head.

It was quite brutal. Sammi had the urge to throw up upon seeing it, but held it in. She couldn't waver and allow the goblins to recover.

If she did, not only did it endanger her life but also the lives of her two friends. With that thought in mind, Sammi lifted the stand with both arms and brought it down on the severely injured goblins head with all her strength.

She aimed to kill.

SPLAT!

Blood splattered all over her, crushing the small goblin's skull and brains. Still she didn't stop there, Sammi swung at the goblin head 2 more times to ensure that it was dead. She didn't want it to get up like in those zombie survival movies.

After it was reduced to a pool of blood and brains, Sammi walked over to the last living goblin. Oddly enough this was the first goblin that Kai had attacked.

Once more she brought down the bloodied stand 3 more times on the critically wounded goblin's head.

SPLAT!

SPLAT!

SPLAT!

'There, they're dead…'

Sammi was rapidly taking in deep breaths, but she seemed fine.

Similarly, Sia was breathing heavily. A few moments ago Sia hurled the goblin attached to her purse towards the goblin attacking Sammi.

She had just finished stomping on the 2 goblin's stomachs and torso when she heard Sammi and Kai talking. Kai's voice was a little weaker than normal.

Worried that they might have been injured, Sia turned to face them. She saw that Sammi was walking towards the remaining goblins and noticed the damage done to Kai's arm.

While this did confirm her worries, they were not in any immediate grave danger. Well, at least until she set her gaze on the goblin that was slowly recovering from its stunned state.

The instant she saw this, she once again reached for her goblin fused purse. Sia began to build up momentum again, preparing to chuck the goblin before Sammi could get hurt.

Once she saw that the attacking goblin was about to lunge at the red head, Sia sent it flying. What she didn't anticipate was the force of her throw was enough to fling her forward, face first into the hard ground.

Thankfully, Sia's throw hit its target and saved Sammi from being mauled by the purple goblin.

It took Sia a few seconds to push herself up off the ground and sit to recover her lost stamina.

Kai had done the same as he went into an Asian squat position. He still had to deal with the after effects of the purple goblin's poison.

Sammi, now finished with the task, was about to turn towards them when a blue paper-thin holographic box once again appeared in front of her.

[ Ascension Realm - Fortress 45, Time Elapsed ( 7 minutes ) ]

[ Wave 1 ( Complete ) ] 

┎ 

Your team has completed Wave 1 of Task 1.

As a reward your team will receive an [ Awakening ].

Your physique will reach the [ Awakened ] level and a [ Bronze ] grade mana core will form inside your body.

For every [ Low-Grade Corrupted Goblin ] killed by the team, each person will receive 1 unit of mana.

  ┛

[ Time Left ( 297 Seconds ) ]

[ Awakening will proceed in ( 10 seconds ) ]

[ ( 9 seconds ) ]

[ ( 8 seconds ) ]

[ ( 7 seconds ) ]

Before the trio could process the information being relayed to them by the melodic and robotic voice, a timer had begun to count down. Even if they wanted to react, they just didn't have enough time or energy to do so.

Both Sia and Kai were fatigued while Sammi was out of breath as she wasn't athletic like the other two. All they wanted to do right now was rest. Their sights were blurry and couldn't properly see their surroundings.

[ ( 3 seconds ) ]

[ ( 2 seconds ) ]

[ ( 1 second ) ]

And as that timer hit 0, a soft white glow enveloped each and every one of their bodies. The white glow stretched for about a meter around each of them.

Then in the next instance, it directly entered through the pores of their skin and orifices, injecting itself straight into their bodies. The 3 teens felt as though they had been pierced by millions upon millions of tiny needles.

However, that sensation didn't last long as a new pain surged through their bodies. At the center of their bodies, a vortex appeared and started to spin. Causing them to feel immeasurable amounts of pain.

It was as though all their organs were twisting and turning. Then a burning sensation spread throughout their bodies. Engulfing them in heat. Yet they were not set ablaze. 

"AAHHHHH!!!!"

"FUCK!"

"UGH! SHIT"

"WHAT THE HELL!"

…

[ Time Left ( 251 Seconds ) ]

They continued to scream and swear as their bodies experienced indescribable pain that continued for a full minute. Soon the burning sensation subsided, only to be replaced with the shattering of their bones and tearing of their muscles.

This time it was quite literal. Their bodies were being torn apart and rebuilt. One could only imagine what it would feel like.

As their bodies were [ Awakened ] the timer did not stop and continued to tick down.

…

[ Time Left ( 205 Seconds ) ]

At some point the pain became unbearable for Sammi, causing her to pass out in a fetal position. Sia was no better as she was clutching her stomach as she rolled on the ground with tears flowing from her eyes.

At the same time, Kai was gritting his teeth while rapid fire swearing as his limbs were spazzing out.

"Shit! Shit! Shit! Fuck! What the fuck! What the fucking hell is the shitty fucking thing! 'Awakening' MY ASS…"

Thankfully, for him the 2 girls were too focused on their own pain to even hear what he was saying. Otherwise their opinion of him might have changed slightly.

…

[ Time Left ( 173 Seconds ) ]

The vortex that had been churning in their bodies began to speed up. It spun faster and faster, rotating with unmatched speed. Then it began to compress and condense, forming a spherical object the size of a golf ball.

It was bronze in color with a familiar white light radiating from it. This was obviously the mana core that the melodic robotic voice spoke about.

Their shattered bones also started to reconstruct themselves. A similar white luster enveloped them.

As this happened the pain slowly subsided. An indication that their transformations were coming to an end.

Kai was the first to notice and began checking his body for any abnormalities. Other than a tinge of pain from his fingertips reforming he could not find anything weird about his condition.

In fact, he felt refreshed, free from all the fatigue he had built up from fighting the goblins. His body was filled with energy and Kai seemed to have found a new power dwelling within himself.

'What is this? Is this mana?'

'Wait what about…'

Before he inspected his body any further, he thought of Sia and Sammi who had also transformed alongside him. He looked around his surroundings to find them. When Kai caught sight of Sia clutching her stomach, he instantly jumped to his feet.

Kai was worried that his girlfriend had gotten injured when she was fighting the Corrupted Goblins on her side. He had not been able to see how she was doing as Kai was preoccupied with his own wounds.

The only thing that kept him assured was that she was by far more athletic than him and her strength was comparable to his, although a bit lower.

But now, seeing that she was on the ground, Kai finally panicked. Without any hesitation, Kai used all his strength in his legs to get up from his position. And in doing so he launched himself a few meters into the air towards Sia's direction.

'Wha-what just happened.'

He didn't anticipate the strength of his newly awakened body. And such, he ate shit. Crashing straight onto the ground face first a few feet from Sia's current position.

"Ugh… you gotta be shitting me."

Kai cursed in a low voice as he once again picked himself up off the ground. This time he took note of how much strength he used. It seemed like Kai and the girls will need some time to get accustomed to their bodies again.

Surprisingly enough, Kai didn't have any scratches on him even though his face had skidded across the coarse earth. But even if there were, Kai wouldn't notice as his focus was on Sia.

At this point Sia also noticed that the pain had gone away and was now staring at Kai. She couldn't help but smile at the worry that was evident on his face.

When Kai met her eyes, he gave a wry smile and scratched the back of his head as a blush crept up on his face. A hint of embarrassment could be seen on his face causing Sia to relax.

"Kai, I'm okay. It seems like your arm is fine."

"Oh yeah. I guess so."

Only now did he remember that one of the corrupted goblins had actually landed an attack on his left arm. However, now the only thing that was left to indicate that something happened to his arm was the torn sleeve of his hoodie.

Kai lifted his left arm and waved it around. There was no scar or scab to be seen, a perfectly healthy uninjured arm.

"Maybe the awakening healed me or something."

Kai got closer as he talked. Hearing the word "awakening" Sia's face turned a little more serious, no longer wearing a smile on her face. Instead a contemplative look replaced it.

'What was that awakening?'

[ Time Left ( 138 Seconds ) ]

[ Ascension Realm - Fortress 45, Time Elapsed ( 10 minutes ) ]

Seeing Sia's face become serious, Kai also followed suit as he collected himself to prepare for what this Ascension Trial had in store for them. 

Sia took a look at the floating semi transparent blue panel with the timer ticking down.

[ Time Left ( 135 Seconds ) ]

"Now that we have some time to talk, why don't you tell me why you were so confident that going into this trial was the right choice?"

"Well you see, I saw it in a stream."

"A stream?"

Sia gave Kai a judgemental and questioning look as if to say, 'Really bruh?'

"Yeah, hear me out. The guy I was watching completely described everything that happened. From the panels, the melodic and robotic voice, the name of the trials, to even the green thing that enveloped the sky."

"Oh?"

"Here look."

He unclipped his strap bag to get something out, rummaging through the bag for a few seconds until he found what he was looking for.

"Remember when we went to the N&B bookstore. This was the book I bought and the author was the streamer I talked about."

Kai held out a book titled "Manual to the Apocalypse" for Sia to see. It was still wrapped in plastic, obviously Kai hadn't opened it yet.

"So, why are you telling me this when you haven't even read it yet?"

Sia pointed at the plastic wrapping.

"The author did a stream a week or so ago, reading the first page of the prologue to build up hype for the novel's release."

As Kai said this he started to unwrap the book and opened to the prologue of the book to start reading, making sure Sia could read alongside him.

"The siren of the apocalypse descends on the mortal world. Enticing the populous to take part in its trials as the red signs of chaos creates discord among the people…"

After reading the first two lines Kai skips to the last paragraph on the page.

"In the cities of millions, only those daring shall ascend and defeat the corruption that endangers the Fortress of Man."

"Cowards will be trapped within, unable to cross the barrier, unable to do anything. They await for the brave to succeed, or fall into despair."

"Whichever they choose, only they can decide. For their fate is in their own hands."

"This is the [ Trails of Survival ]."

As Kai read each sentence aloud, Sia's eyes couldn't help but widen as the passage clearly described what happened in New York City.

Kai flipped to another page and was about to continue but Sia stopped him. She raised her hand and said,

"Ok, ok, I believe you, but let's prepare for the next wave and wake up Sammi."

All this time Sia had been keeping a careful eye out for the timer, making sure that they would not run out of time and be ambushed by the corrupted goblins.

She then pointed over to Sammi who had been passed out on the ground in a fetal position. Sia had seen that Sammi was perfectly fine as she did not incur any injuries while fighting the severely injured goblins.

Furthermore, when she saw how the awakening had healed Kai's left arm, she laid all her worries to rest. The awakening was a reward for completing the first wave and Sia didn't think it would do anything that would be detrimental to them.

Hearing this, Kai stored the book in his bag once again so he didn't lose it, while also glancing at the timer. 

[ Time Left ( 55 Seconds ) ]

"It seems we have less than a minute to prepare…"

As they discussed their plans about the upcoming wave, the couple walked over to the currently unconscious red head to wake her.

"Although we don't have much time, I don't think we have to worry that much about the next wave."

"I think so too. I can feel that my body has become stronger due to the awakening."

"Yeah, I felt that first hand when I jumped. I think I'm like maybe 5 to 7 times stronger than before. You?"

"Around the same amount, about 6 or 7 times."

It only took them 12 or so seconds to reach Sammi. When they got there, they noticed that the bloodied corpses of the corrupted goblins had disappeared. 

Previously, the couple had not taken note of it since the two were preoccupied with each other and the conversation. Now that they had a good look at everything, Kai and Sia found that there was no blood on their bodies. Not even on Kai's arm which had previously been drenched in the red liquid.

"Do you know what happened to the goblins?"

Having found out that Kai was more knowledgeable about their current situation, Sia decided to ask Kai even though he likely wouldn't have a clue either.

"I don't really know, it might have to do with the Life Essence thing that the task talked about. But let's discuss that after the second wave when we have more time. And I want to see if my theory is right…"

There was a contemplative look on Kai's face as he said his best guess, however he soon shifted his gaze to the every ticking timer.

He tossed over Sia's purse and reached for the one-legged stand that was tossed away by Sammi during her awakening.

[ Time Left ( 27 Seconds ) ]

"Anyways, let's wake her up."

After grabbing her purse, Sia began to prop Sammi up into a sitting position. Then she gently shook the taller girl. Sammi's eyelids shook for a few seconds, then slowly began to open.

It didn't take much effort to raise her from her unconscious state as she was a light sleeper.

"H-huh…"

Taking a moment to regain her senses, Sammi dazingly stared at Sia for a few seconds until she finally remembered where she was and what she was doing before she passed out.

Before she could speak, Sammi heard some dreadful words come from Sia and Kai's mouths.

"Get up. The wave is about to start."

"More goblins are gonna materialize soon."

Her heart sank at the mention of the monsters that had almost taken her and her friends' lives. Thankfully, Sia was there to reassure her.

"Don't worry about fighting for now, Kai and I will handle them. Just try to get used to your new body."

Still she was confused as to why she would say that. Sammi tried to figure out the meaning behind what Sia said, the Ascension Trials had other plans.

[ Time Left ( 3 Seconds ) ]

[ Time Left ( 2 Seconds ) ]

[ Time Left ( 1 Second ) ]

[ Ascension Realm - Fortress 45, Time Elapsed ( 12 minutes ) ]

[ Wave 2 ( In Progress ) ] [ Time Left ( 360 seconds ) ]

Once again the low grade corrupted goblins started to materialize in front of the three teens. An additional 3 were spawned along with the original 6 they had previously fought, a total of 9 goblins.

'As expected…'

Kai thought, remembering the details to Task 1. He clenched the fist holding the stand while taking a deep breath in. Getting into focus, Kai was prepared to repeat what he did during the last wave.

Next to him, Sia was testing out how fast she could swing her purse without breaking it. Now that her body had become significantly stronger, she knew that she had to relearn how to control her body again.

At this point Sammi had also gotten up from the ground while picking up some rocks from the rubble of the previous fight.

Then within mere moments, screeches reverberated through the air. However, this time Kai's group were not fazed in the slightest.

Just like last time Sia had swung her purse intending to fuse her purse with a goblins head. However, her control over body wasn't as precise as before. She anticipated an significant increase in her strength but not to the degree she produced.

The purse went through the head of the goblin she aimed for before it could materialize and fuse with the purse. Instead it crashed into the head of the goblin beside the one she aimed for.

Thus sending it and the one beside it flying to the side. In doing so, the purse strap snapped from the force of the swing. While Sia stumbled forward, a little unbalanced, but she was able to keep hold of her blood soaked purse.

Kai on the other hand, swung the one-legged stand at the three goblins in front of him with a fourth of his strength. Which in reality was around one and a half times stronger than his original strength.

Based on his calculation this amount of power should be enough to deal with the current goblins. However, he forgot to control his speed. Therefore, the force of his attack was several times more powerful than what he anticipated.

As the stand came in contact with the purple skin of the goblin, Kai saw the stand start to bend slightly in his now accelerated vision. He unconsciously wanted to protect the stand and wrap it with something so that it wouldn't snap in half, leaving him without a weapon to defend himself.

Due to his accelerated vision given by his awakened body, Kai was able to stare at his attack for what seemed like 10 seconds even though it only lasted for a fraction of a second. Within that instance he saw a faint layer of white hazy light cover the stand for a mere moment then dissipate in the next. 

'Huh. What was that?'

Kai's vision returned to normal as he sent those goblins to a more than concussive state. The first goblins head caved in, blood leaking from its orifices, it died upon impact. While the second fared no better. It was sent crashing into the ground, cracking its head on the hard surface of the rocky terrain thus killing it.

The lucky remaining survivor of the three, was knocked prone into a dazed state. But that luck didn't last long as Kai instantly rushed forward to thrust the stand into the goblins neck, giving a fatal injury and killing it.

Kai was careful not to exert too much force, fearing that the stand would break on him. Still he wondered what that faint white light was that covered the stand for a fraction of a millisecond.

To his side, Sammi had started throwing the rubble she had picked up at the goblins in front of her. Knowing full well how dangerous they could be, she did not hold back in the slightest. Sending them out like bullets, the rubble pierced into the goblins, shredding their skin and cracking their bones.

Calling them bullets were quite literal, as their speed reached upwards of 5-600 miles per hour. They were close to breaking the sound barrier.

Within a single breath she had already volleyed over tens of rocks, quickly ending the lives of those goblins. In fact, she had been the fastest in clearing the goblin on her side. However, since Sammi didn't dare to underestimate the vicious monsters, she continued for a few seconds.

In addition, she did not realize the faint white light that had covered her hands and rocks for a brief moment as Sammi was too engrossed in her attacks.

At the same time as Kai rushed forward, Sia had regained her balance and continued her attack. With the hand gripping the strap of her purse, she swung it forward with an overhead motion.

Bam!

It crushed the skull of the goblin she had initially missed. In that instance, Sia saw a similar white light rush from her hand through the strap and covered the purse.

The force of the impact shattered the ground sending shards of rocks everywhere. With her accelerated reaction speed, she grabbed onto one and sent it hurling over to the remaining goblin.

This time, as Sammi had done, Sia did not hold back as she did not care what happened to the rock. Sia threw it like a professional baseball player.

And as expected the faint white like once again appeared, coating the rock as it ripped through the air with freighting speed.

Zip!

It shot straight through the head of the monster leaving a gaping hole on the side of its head, before crashing into the ground a few hundred meters away. It was soundless, well at least until…

BOOM!

Sia's attack just now had broken past the sound barrier and caused a little explosion as dust rose into the air where the rock crashed.

This shocked both Sammi and Kai who were preparing to assist her.

Sia steadied herself while letting out a breath of relief. She gave a quick glance to her friend to see if they were okay. Sia had trusted them to take care of their sides and they didn't betray that trust. Only they were looking at her with a bit of a weird expression on their faces.

Simply ignoring this. She looked at the timer.

[ Wave 2 ( In Progress ) ] [ Time Left ( 356 seconds ) ]

A mere four seconds had passed since the wave started. They were so fast that Sia could see the timer panel's information change before her eyes. 

[ Wave 2 ( Complete ) ] 

┎ 

Your team has completed Wave 2 of Task 1.

For every [ Low-Grade Corrupted Goblin ] killed by the team, each person will receive 1 unit of mana.

  ┛

[ Time Left ( 355 Seconds ) ]

Seeing that the wave was truly complete Sia began to relax and awaited for the rewards. Kai and Sammi walked to her.

"Um, so do you think we'll go through that pain again since we completed the wave?"

Sia asked Kai as he approached her. When he heard this, Kai shook his head.

"No, I don't think so. The pain was probably due to the awakening. Anyways, I want to confirm my theory from before."

With that said, Kai brought his gaze onto the goblins beside Sia, paying full attention at what would happen to the corpses of the monsters. Not long after, a faint white light seeped out of the corpses and enveloped them.

Eventually the corpses turned transparent and condensed into formless white lights the size of a grain of sand. Then all the white lights gather together which split into 3 portions that shot towards the three members of the team.

Sia and Kai revealed enlightened looks finally confirming what was in their minds. On the other hand, Sammi had a surprised expression, also coming to the same realization as the other two.

"So, was that Life Essence or Mana?"

Sammi asked.

"I…"

Before Sia could answer, a loud sound interrupted their conversation.

[ Time Left ( 340 Seconds ) ]