Hardcore Fantasy – Chapter 21: The First Exam [I]

"Let's go over the plan again." – Lathz spoke and tapped her bio-system which then displayed a hologram of a gigantic stronghold partially inside a huge mountain.

The others looked at the hologram and waited for her words.

"Our mission is to either destroy or capture the stronghold." – She repeated their main goal – "Currently, the closest post to this stronghold is farther than 50 kilometers, so the chances of this area having monsters' lairs are high. We don't possess any information if the designated place is occupied and if yes, by what." – She zoomed in on the image and displayed a barely perceptible door a few kilometers above the ground on one side wall – "Theoretically, we could enter by the main gate as the internal systems of the stronghold seem to be working for basic functions." – The hologram changed and some blue lines appeared – "However, I think it's a better call to use other entrances first and check inside. If we get ambushed right after entering, it would be a bad start. Any thoughts?" – Lathz inquired for the others' input.

"Indeed, I think both me and Akihiko can enter by that door." – Nyza commented while pointing at the door displayed on the image – "What do you think, Akihiko?" – She turned to the latter.

Akihiko stopped sharpening a long sword and answered with hand signals.

"He said t-tha-"

*Boom*

The helicopter abruptly shook and the group balanced themselves to not fall.

"We're currently being attacked by some monsters. We're close to the designed place, so stay alert as the attacks will probably increase in frequency." – Evelyn commented to the group while lying her back on one of the walls – "Continue doing your things, the pilots will take care of taking you to your destination." – Right after her words, the helicopter shook again.

The others nodded and Elizabeth used a spell to help the group stabilize.

"Thanks, Elizabeth." – Darlan nodded at her after verifying the efficacy of the spell.

"No problem." – She then gazed at Beatrix.

"S-Sorry. Akihiko said that he can't see the hologram and asked where the door is located." – Beatrix conveyed to the group while fixing her blue hair that was starting to cover her vision.

"Oh, sorry, that was my mistake." – Lathz admitted while a faint trace of blush appeared in her cheeks. She couldn't believe she had forgotten about this and made such a dumb mistake – "The door is around 3 to 4 kilometers above the ground, it's on the side of the stronghold that is connected with the mountain."

"…" – Akihiko thought for a moment before nodding and making a few more hand signals.

"He said that he needs 1 minute at most." – Beatrix translated.

"…" – Nyza made a thoughtful face. She might be able to do as fast as him if she pushes herself but she was unsure about pulling it off – "I might take a little longer." – She answered truthfully.

"…" – Akihiko turned his head in her direction and gestured again.

"He said that he can carry you up if you find it hard." – Beatrix made a weird expression after she translated his words.

"…" – Nyza's expression darkened a little at his words.

"Aki, that's a bad choice of words." – Elizabeth chimed in and pointed out before turning to Nyza and sweeping the others with her gaze – "It might be a little late, but Aki has all his skills and brainpower focused on battle and shinobi techniques, so he is honest and without filter to a fault. If he says something like this to any of you, know that he isn't doing it with malicious intent but instead genuinely trying to help. He just sucks at choosing words." – Her crimson eyes landed back on Nyza – "What he means is that he can help you to climb and avoid you wasting your stamina on this. The important thing is for you to get up there." – She sugarcoated his words a little.

"…" – Nyza's red eyes glanced at Akihiko and seeing him nodding, her expression improved, the dissatisfaction in her chest eased a little – "I… I will accept your help." – She decided to take his help. She tried to think that this would also serve as a learning experience for her.

Seeing that they resolved the small misunderstanding, Lathz nodded and turned to the hologram once again – "Ok, so Akihiko and Nyza will climb the stronghold and enter by that door. We currently don't have any blueprints so we can only make some guesses. This door should be either from maintenance, a tubulation, or connected to a machinery room." – She hazard a guess.

"That's possible." – Eric agreed – "However, is this door also being supplied by the energy system?" 

"Let's see…" – Lathz changed the vision to the stronghold be a background image while the blue lines became more pronounced.

Observing the detectable flow of energy, the mentioned door was out of the supplied area – "No, it isn't." – She turned to Akihiko and Nyza – "Can the two of you open it?"

"Yes, I can." – Nyza quickly replied. She was sure she could at least do this much.

"That's good. Now, onto the other parts of the plan." – Lathz then delved into the formations they would use, the strategies in case they needed to retreat, how they would rotate their positions, formations to hold a point, how to proceed in cleaning the stronghold in case of it being occupied, and some other details.

Elizabeth also chimed in from time to time, giving her input and covering the holes she spotted.

Eventually, both of them waved a solid plan for their approach to the exam, and a few backup ones in case of emergency.

Everything was rather basic considering they didn't have much information about the place, so they had to make do with it.

"We're here." – Evelyn's words prompted the group to look outside the window.

When they looked outside, they saw a half-destroyed stronghold embedded in a mountain. The surrounding area consisted of an ashen gray, dry barren land with holes and several cracks on it. 

Monsters could be spotted walking on the ground and fighting with each other, however, the group noticed that the monsters didn't get close to the destroyed structure.

"Aki." – Elizabeth found the situation strange and immediately turned to her childhood friend.

Under his helmet, Akihiko's ears shot up and twitched a few times. The fur on his tail stood on end, and his lips dried a little.

He conveyed his thoughts to her.

Elizabeth's expression turned serious – "Change of plans, stick together until further orders. There's something dangerous down there."

Her sudden shift earned confused faces from the group.

'Don't tell me…' – Melody looked closer at the stronghold and upon enchanting her vision, she saw a small and distant flag depicting a pickaxe and a skull – 'Shit!'

Melody recognized the flag as one belonging to a group of humanoid monsters that lived underground. They were a terrible group to meet back in the game.

She hastily turned to the others but didn't know how to explain the situation to them, after all, what she knew from this situation came from the game, she couldn't just give away precise information out of nowhere.

"Why the sudden change?" – Roxanne asked.

"Aki said that there's something dangerous down there, maybe underground." – Elizabeth explained and checked her suit.

Melody's eyes widened and she turned to him with a surprised expression.

"What makes you think so?" – Bianca questioned curiously.

"…" – Akihiko answered through hand signals before finishing sharpening the long sword and hiding it between his biceps and forearm.

"He said it's instinct." – Beatrix conveyed.

"Instinct? Just that?" – Bianca found it odd to Elizabeth to suddenly change the plan just because of instinct.

"Instinct is just a downgraded way of putting it." – Elizabeth answered after finishing checking her suit – "It's more accurate to call it precognition. For now, follow with this strategy, you will eventually see if his instinct is correct or not."

The helicopter then got closer to the stronghold and hovered a few kilometers above the ground.

"This is where you get off." – Evelyn spoke and the hangar's door opened – "Good luck, kids."

"Thank you, instructor." – Elizabeth answered and turned to the others – "Let's go." 

Then, she ran toward the open door and jumped off.

"Off we go!" – Darlan shouted and also jumped off.

"…" – Akihiko calmly walked toward the door before jumping off.

Melody gritted her teeth and with a guilty heart, followed suit.

The others also jumped.

As soon as they jumped, the hangar's door closed and the helicopter turned around before taking off to a higher altitude and vanishing from view when its camouflage function was activated.

As the group was quickly falling in the air, their suits lit up in a dim light and they became able to control their bodies better while ignoring a great part of the resistance from the wind.

Elizabeth looked down and saw some stray monsters flying at them.

She used her mana and created three icicles before letting them fall and accelerating them even more with her telekinesis.

The icicles fell like razor blades and pierced as well as cut the monsters in half.

She then started to maneuver in the air to get as close to the stronghold as possible before getting to the ground.

The others, seeing her actions, followed suit.

After falling for almost a minute, when they got close to the ground, their suits glowed brighter and their momentum slowed down. They safely landed on the ground and the light in their suit faded away.

Elizabeth activated her communicator and so did the others – "Remember the plan." – Her demeanor turned serious – "Let's go."

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