Hard Mode Awakening Challenge

Blowing out a breath, Ian waited next to the designated portal for his team to enter the tournament dungeon. The rest of his team milled around, lost in thought as the last couple of minutes counted down to the start of the match. Even Ashlyn was quiet as she scratched Mara's ears while petting Spot. Socks was glued to Selenia's side, who seemed to be handling the stress better than the rest of them.

Ian pulled up his status screen for the dozenth time in the past twenty minutes, still happy with what they had managed before the tournament started.

Name: Ian Spelling (Hidden)

Alias: Zero

LVL: 2387

Status:

STR: 23072

END: 28595

AGI: 21162

WIL: 19708

INT: 20145

Skills: Prestige Mode (Awakened), Prestige War Leader (Inherent), United We Stand (Inherent), Everything the Light Touches (Inherent), Squeaky Clean (Inherent)

Common: Enhanced Body (M), Enhanced Mind (M),

Uncommon: Conceal Identity, Analyze 1/5, Poison Resistance 1/5, Basic Item Storage, Ascension, Basic Mana Regeneration (M), Soothing Touch 1/5, Nature Resistance (M)

Rare: Magic Soul, Herculean Fortitude 6/10, Nature's Blessing (M)

Available SP: 110

Status-wise, he would be similar to a level 4000 adventurer in their main stats, but the top tier of the category would overshadow him in everything but endurance. His biggest shortcoming was how nearly all of his SP had been spent on status enhancement skills or his inherent skills. Many at the top of the mid-tier would have movement skills to help dodge and close, as well as multiple different attack skills.

When he thought about it, his party actually had taken multiple skills to boost their damage, defense, and utility. His sister and Selenia were probably stronger than the top individuals in the mid-tier with their current skills and stats. Their ability to purchase additional skills for fewer SP combined with their ability to give them additional SP really shone through with the types of abilities each could now use.

"Attention participants," came a voice from the loudspeaker. "Please step through the portal. Once everyone is inside, each team will be teleported to their designated starting areas, and the match will begin."

"About time," Ashlyn said, rushing through the portal.

Ian looked around at the others with a smirk. "Let's do this."

Stepping across the threshold caused the entire world to go dark. It felt as though he was still walking through the portal, though he couldn't orient himself to which way was which. Just as he was starting to feel a momentary sense of panic, the world around him materialized, and he saw his team was in a wooded area next to a relatively shallow river.

"Into the tree line," Claire ordered, as the sounds of people could be heard in every direction.

As Ian went to move into the tree line, he saw Ashlyn hold up her bow and fire a spirit arrow upstream as she walked backwards towards the tree line. A scream let him know she had hit someone, and he turned to make sure she was safe from any return fire. What he saw was her hitting a team that was easily a hundred yards away at the bend in the river. She had shot straight through one and had injured a second. Her second shot finished the first enemy while their team dragged their surviving injured member into the tree line.

"Nice shot, but let's get away from here," he said, as they both ran to catch up with their party.

The next thirty seconds were a blur, as the sounds of shouts and cracks of spells could be heard all around them in the woods. The tree cover had been relatively sparse next to the river, but it had become much denser along with a decent amount of undergrowth as they continued to move.

"Mara says there are two groups to the right, and one directly ahead of us," Ashlyn whispered. "All three are coming our way. If we move quickly, we can take the one in front of us before the others get a chance to engage."

"Let's go," Claire said.

Tram pushed to the front as Ian moved to the right. When Tram suddenly blurred and appeared at the edge of a tree, all hell broke loose. Ian sprinted to attack a man who stepped out from behind another tree to flank Tram as an arrow went flying past the tank's other side. A click sounded from behind him as a small explosion happened far to the left, followed by a scream of terror.

Ian blocked it out as he lunged at the man who had almost made it to Tram. Activating his skill, the magical spearhead burst forth at the tip of his weapon, and he jammed it directly into the man's chest from the side. The leather armor the man wore did nothing to slow the spearhead as it cut directly into him deep enough to puncture his heart. The man's inertia nearly pulled the spear out of Ian's hands before he yanked it back.

Ian blinked, taking the man's life had been far easier than he believed it should have been. He had a momentary sense of panic before the reality caught up to him. This wasn't real, and that man wasn't really dead. This was a giant contest, but he hadn't felt a sense of victory and accomplishment like he did when he fought and killed monsters. This didn't feel right to him, and he couldn't shake the feeling that he shouldn't be here.

"First group down, the other two groups will be on us in about thirty seconds from the right," Ashlyn said, turning to the right as the arrow in her hand began to glow black.

Ian shook his head clear, as he moved up to a large tree to hide his profile from the next group—everyone in his party doing the same. It was a game; he had to remember that nothing here was permanent. It was a game.

A man screamed something a second later, getting a response back. The language sounded foreign, which didn't surprise him. Most of the competitors in these matches came from non-English-speaking countries. Just like the leaderboards, this was a worldwide tournament after all.

The entire party tensed when the groups got close enough for their footsteps to be heard. As the first man ran past Ian, Ashlyn stepped out of the clearing farther down and unleashed her arrow, which was now a red glowing ball of power. The man dove to the side to avoid the arrow as it flew through the space he had been and shot past the tree Ian was hiding behind. Half a second later, an explosion nearly knocked Ian off his feet as dirt, rocks, and body parts began to fly.

Stepping forward, Ian jammed his spear into the gap between the man's chest plate and his helmet, into his undefended neck. Activating the magic soul, the man's head rolled off his shoulders.

A clicking sound was followed by another explosion before a couple of people came into view as they charged Ashlyn from farther down the tree line. One of the attackers was stopped by Tram's charge and shield bash, while the other suddenly found a four-hundred-pound moon prowler tossing them around like a leather-wrapped ragdoll.

Claire's daggers suddenly zipped from where she was hiding before a couple of loud screams were silenced from beyond the tree line. Ian moved around the opposite side of the tree to find that two more people were still standing and trying to cast spells from the safety of their own trees. Breaking into a sprint, he closed behind the first one as he stored his spear and pulled his sword out. Grabbing the woman from behind, he ran his magically imbued weapon through the magical robes she was wearing and out of the front of her chest before twisting the blade and pushing her lifeless body out from its hiding place.

He pushed forward to the second tree, just as the man behind it screamed and pulled himself back, holding the stump that was left of his arm. As the man turned, Ian met his eyes and watched them widen in shock a split second before his sword slid easily through his opponent's neck.

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"Got the casters," Ian called as the man's body dropped to the ground. The last thing he wanted was to be on the receiving end of his party's attacks when he hopped out from behind the tree.

"Regroup," Clare called.

Ian looked around to make sure the danger was gone before hopping out from cover and running back towards his group. Spot was being healed by Lana when he caught up to everyone.

"What the fuck did you use there, Ash?" he asked, when he saw everyone else was either fine or only had minor injuries.

"I used the skill overcharge with a concussive arrow," she said with a shrug while she patted Spot. "I think it got three of them and injured two others, but I won't be able to do it again for a bit. Overcharge is a mana hog, and it also puts a ton of stress on my body. I'd probably pass out if I used it again without an hour or so break."

"Doesn't matter," Tram said as he looked around. "It was cool as shit, but I bet everyone in this part of the map heard it."

"True, how soon until Spot can run?" Ian asked.

"Just a couple more seconds and his leg will be good to go, but he won't be in top shape for a good ten minutes," Lana replied, before standing up. "There we go. My heal over time will slowly take care of the rest, but it will have to do for right now, or I may run out of mana when we need it."

"Thanks, Lana," Ashlyn said, giving her a smile. "Mara, just let me know we have another group coming from behind, and groups that are fighting each other in every other direction."

"How close?" Ian asked.

"About two minutes out, and they appear to be stronger than the ones we were facing," she said with a frown. "How strong are the people we've been facing?"

"The first group we fought was around 1,550, and the second group had members around 2,700 to 3,100," Claire said. "You taking out their front liners made it a lot easier than it should have been."

"Let's get ready," Ian said.

Everyone quickly lined up in places that would keep them hidden as the other group came up to them. Part of their plan had been to fight on their own terms as often as they could. With the way their friends' match had gone, they realized that controlling the interactions was almost more important than what skills they used. If they could force other groups to fight, they could walk in and pick up the pieces.

Two low whistles were the only thing that let him know there were people close by. Suddenly, a giant ball of purple fire flew past them and landed among the corpses of the previous fight before exploding, tossing dirt and other debris all over the place. Ian smiled to himself when none of his party members made any noise or moved from their hiding spots.

Everything went silent except for the occasional scream and the sound of fighting in the distance. Ian smirked when he heard a single whistle ten seconds later. A couple of moments after that, he heard light footsteps slowly getting closer. Estimating they were still a dozen or more yards away, Ian was surprised when a man in plate armor stepped into view between him and Tram.

Launching himself forward at the same time Tram activated his charge, Ian was impressed by how fast the man reacted. His shield came up to meet Tram's charge just as Ian's magic imbued weapon cut deep into the man's arm right below his pauldron. Just before it went deep enough to completely sever the arm, Ian and Tram were both blown backwards ten yards.

Ian rolled back to his feet just as an earth spear erupted from where he had been laying. A second slower and he would have been impaled. Ducking around behind a tree, Ian looked out and saw two spell casters and an archer moving to duck behind trees. The first two made it, but a spirit arrow caught the other archer in the hip, causing the woman to go down in a tormented scream.

Hearing Lana scream behind him, Ian turned around to see the look of rage on her face as she brought her wand up and aimed at the two leather armor wearers who had just killed Tram. The man in plate mail turned towards her as the click of the spell sounded. Ian began to move to intercept the armored man as both of the men in leather exploded, both being ripped apart at the waist.

Ian barely heard the growls and screams coming from around him as he pushed himself forward to cut off the armored man, whose arm was nearly fully recovered. Just as he went to stab him again, the man blurred, and Ian's blood went cold. Turning, Ian saw the man shield bash Lana and bring his sword around in a downward chop. Ian began moving, even knowing he wouldn't make it in time. As the sword began to drop, he heard a loud click, causing him to dive to the side.

He could both hear and feel the hunks of metal and flesh landing around and on top of him. Uncovering his head, he opened his eyes to see the armored man's helmet on the ground in front of him with blood dripping out of it onto the dirt, making up the forest floor.

Ian looked around to see Claire, Selenia, and Ashlyn finishing off the last caster.

"Ian, are you alright?" Claire called out to him.

Pushing himself up, Ian couldn't bring himself to look over where Lana had been standing. He didn't want the picture of her corpse stuck in his mind. None of this was real, but he got the feeling some of the things he was seeing would be nightmare fuel for quite some time to come.

"I'm alright," he said after a moment. "How about everyone else?"

"We're alright," Selenia said. "We lost both Socks and Spot, though. Their earth mage was terrifying. I think Mara is still dragging his body around in anger."

Ian shuddered.

"Well, well," came a voice. "What do we have here?"

Ian looked over to see Chet step out from behind a tree.

"I was hoping to get a chan—" Chet's monologue was cut off as blood started pouring from his mouth. Ian smirked as the man's party members screamed when Ashlyn hadn't hesitated to send a spirit arrow straight through the man's sternum.

"Fuck you," Ashlyn said as ice spikes shot up out of the ground behind the party. "Too bad I can't kill you for real in here."

Selenia closed her hand, and the ice behind the group suddenly exploded, sending shards of ice into the low-level members of Wolf's Bite. A couple of daggers went flying through the air, and the area was quiet again.

"We need to move," Ian stated as Mara came back over and nudged him with her nose.

"Following you two," Claire said to Ian and Mara.

Looking down at the moon prowler, Ian patted her head and scratched behind her ear for a second. "Let's get this done so we can go see our friends again."

Ten minutes and two small skirmishes later, Ian and what was left of the party were being chased through the forest by a large group of adventurers.

"Over sixty fucking people working together, this is such bullshit!" Ashlyn said as Mara ran to her side.

"No kidding," Claire huffed. "We need to find a way to lose them, but I think they have a tracker with their group."

"Definitely," Ashlyn said. "We should have given them the slip twice."

"That isn't important right now," Ian said, coming to a stop as they reached the river. "We're going to be sitting ducks in this." He looked around and made a decision. "Ash, get on Mara and run."

"The fuck you mean?" she said looking over at the group, only to see both Claire and Selenia nod in agreement. "No, I'll stay here, and we'll kill all of those savages."

"Not the time to argue, Ash," Ian stated, pulling out his spear. "We have to be getting close to having enough groups gone, so you just need to survive. Our position in this tournament now relies on you."

Ian saw the emotions warring across her features before she growled. "Fine. Let's go, Mara." She looked over at her friends as she jumped on her summon's back. "Make sure they pay."

"Will do, now git," Ian said, causing Mara to rocket off through the shallow river like it didn't slow her at all.

"Here they come," Selenia said in a whisper.

"Big spells, Nia," Ian said quietly as he stepped out to draw the enemy's attention. "This isn't the time for us to ration resources. We'll kill as many as we can."

"Good, then it's my turn," Claire said as she pulled even more daggers out of her dimensional space.

Ian side-stepped, dodging an ice bolt as the horde came into view through the forest, putting him behind a large tree.

"Now."

Dozens of daggers shot around the tree and flew like arrows at the oncoming group at the same time as spiked ice walls began to erupt throughout the mass of adventurers. The daggers cut straight through armored and unarmored foes alike, leaving heavily bleeding wounds as they began piercing secondary targets. They only stopped when they hit Selenia's ice walls, which became giant ice claymores seconds later.

The clearing was suddenly filled with dead and dying adventurers as Ian moved out of hiding and sprinted at the weakened group. His spear impaled the closest enemy as they tried to get back up after Claire's dagger had shot through his abdomen. Ian's mind began to flow with the battle as he became unattached from his actions. He was finishing off wounded adventurers, many of whom were going to be bleeding out in a moment if they didn't get a healer's attention.

It wasn't until he finished off the eighth adventurer that the second wave showed up. Daggers flew past him and embedded themselves into a few adventurers before looping in the air and hitting new targets. Ice lances also began flying past him towards the oncoming enemies. From how the daggers were moving and the slowing rate of the ice lances, both of his companions were running on fumes.

They had been big, flashy, and deadly, but the thirty people who were still running at them were going to overwhelm them.

"Screw it," Ian said before charging the adventurer leading the charge.

At that moment, he cut loose. He activated magic soul on his spear and slashed at the man before he could dodge. The magical blade tore out the man's throat, nearly decapitating him. It was that moment that Ian realized these adventurers had to be in the bottom of the leveling range for the bracket, or his opponent would have been able to move fast enough to get out of the way.

Weaving into the crowd, Ian began to carve into the horde. A quick jab to the sternum cut straight into the next adventurer, killing her instantly. Bringing his spear around in an arc as he pulled it out, he cut off another one's arm before taking a leg off at the knee. They had no resistance to a pure magic attack, and he was going to milk it for everything it was worth.

A dagger flew past him, taking out a swordsman who was about to run him through from the side, giving him a chance to dispatch two more enemies before jumping back. Lunging forward again, his spear found the stomach of another enemy just as pain lanced up Ian's side. Swinging his hand around towards that side, he activated magic soul on his fist as it connected to a young man, pulping his opponent's skull as he cut his hand on the man's crumpled helmet.

Ian swore as he tried to give himself room. He jumped back, just as a spear caught him in the arm on the other side, causing him to almost drop his own. Pulling it back into his storage space, he managed to get clear as a giant wall of ice suddenly sprouted between him and the woman who had just landed the blow.

Turning, he found he was still surrounded by enemies, and Claire was lying on the ground with a couple of arrows in her chest. He saw a bloody Selenia looking at him with wide eyes, her hand held up. Meeting her eyes, he gave her a nod. As her fist closed, he closed his eyes as the sound of shattering ice blocked out everything.