Hard Mode Awakening Challenge

Ian took a deep breath, taking a moment to savor the crisp morning air as he left his dormitory. The sun hadn't fully risen yet, which left it nearly dark to most, though he was finding it easier to see in low-light settings with every level he gained. As he began walking towards the track to go for a quick jog, he saw Tram sitting on one of the benches, staring at a small decorative pond.

Changing directions, Ian made his way over and sat down on the bench next to him. Tram looked over and nodded before turning back to the water. When Ian looked, he saw some koi slowly gliding through the water, seeming to glow as their scales caught what little light there was.

"Just watching the fish?" Ian asked, glancing over at his friend.

Tram sighed before a small smile touched his face as he nodded. "I find watching them to be really peaceful. It helps me think through things."

Ian nodded. He found them too interesting to do much thinking while watching them himself, but he could understand the sentiment. Just like how he understood his friend was struggling with something. As he watched, Tram's smile turned into a grimace.

"I…I don't know," Tram said after a few moments. "I've been having problems sleeping since we started this tournament."

"The cave?" Ian asked.

"No."

Ian looked over at his friend's instant response and saw a look in his eyes that he knew well. It was the same look he saw on his own face in the mirror on the first night of the tournament.

"It's the people," he stated, nodding to Tram in understanding.

Tram nodded back before sighing again while running a hand through his hair. Ian just nodded as he watched the emotions flick across Tram's normally relaxed features.

"I hate what we are doing during this tournament," he said after a moment. "I understand why we are doing it, because I really want to possibly get an ability to help me protect everyone better. However, killing other people just feels so…wrong."

"I feel the same way," Ian agreed. "Intellectually, I understand this tournament is a great opportunity to help develop our skills while discovering our weaknesses in what is probably the only safe environment we will ever have, but the screams of people dying…that's going to haunt my dreams. Seeing everyone's bodies in there really messes with my head."

Tram took a deep breath and leaned forward to rest his chin on his hands. "To make matters worse, I feel like you and I are the only two really struggling with this. Nia and Ash seem to unleash devastation without regret. I know Nia's from a different culture, but Ash has a feral side of her own…and I think she really enjoys demolishing her opponents."

"She does," Ian said with a smirk. "She's also a lot smarter than she lets others realize. Her personality acts as a shield, acting as a veneer helping to create distance between herself and others. She's a lot like you in that regard." Ian said, smirking as his friend glanced over at him. "You give off the cool and relaxed bro vibe, when we all know you have a mind that is constantly analyzing everything around you."

Tram opened his mouth to object before closing it and shrugging his shoulders with a nod.

"It's also not just Ash and Nia," Ian said, turning to stare at the koi as he continued. "Claire comes from a line of adventurers, and she was born and raised in the combative and competitive nature of the previous generations. Add in the years she has spent curbing her emotions to fit the situation, and I think she has developed a way to turn what we are feeling down to a dull roar, if not completely off."

"Lana's different than Claire, but kind of the same," Tram added. "She wasn't born in this country. Hell, English isn't even her first language—even if it's impossible to tell now. She saw more death before she was ten than you or I will hopefully see in our lifetime." Tram frowned as his eyes seemed to be seeing something other than the pond he was staring at. "Her grandmother smuggled her into the country before she, herself, passed away, leaving Lana alone. The stories Lana told me when we were growing up of her life before coming here…well, they are her stories to tell if she wants, but they aren't pretty, and I haven't heard her talk about it in a long time.

"If it wasn't for mom and dad adopting us, I don't think she would be the person we know today," Tram continued, as his gaze returned to the present. "Don't get me wrong, she could probably bury a body without batting an eye, but their morals and love helped her become the young woman who smiles with her friends. She's a survivor through and through, which is why it's so surprising that she is such a romantic at heart and gets embarrassed about certain things."

Ian smiled. "Yeah, she is a pretty easy target for you and Ash to tease."

"Gotta get 'em in while I can," he smiled as he repositioned himself to lean against the back of the bench. "Who knows when she is going to grow out of it and leave me without any low-hanging fruit?"

Ian chuckled as his friend smirked.

"But yeah," Tram continued, a sad smile replacing his smirk. "For better or worse, they are better equipped for this tournament than we are—at least mentally. Though I think they are also growing stronger than us right now. I have mobility and armor, but I don't have any decisive attacks that tear through our enemies like the girls do."

"I feel that," Ian said, blowing out a breath. "I know what I bring to the party, but I'm kind of in a lull to be honest. I need to decide where I am going with my build. Right now I'm just kind of making my spear and sword extra…"

"Magicy?" Tram filled in when Ian struggled for the right description.

"Eh, it'll work," he replied with a chuckle. "I haven't had my coffee yet, but yeah, I'm currently a one-trick pony."

"When your one trick works every time, it's a pretty good trick," Tram replied, returning the chuckle. "I just wish we were done with this and fighting monsters again. I don't feel bad about chopping off a monster's arm, and the roars of anguish they make don't send chills up my spine."

"I know, man," Ian said, reaching over and patting the larger man on the shoulder a couple of times. "Just a few more days and we will be done, and hopefully we'll get rewards that make this entire thing worthwhile."

"Damn I hope so," Tram muttered. "We have one match a day until the finals. So, we will be ready to head back into the dungeon in a few days. Which reminds me…Ruth wanted to talk with you after our match today."

"Did she finish the material list needed to make gear for mid-tier?"

"Yeah, but I think she also wants you to hit level five thousand before any of us continue pushing for levels again," Tram said with a grin, obviously enjoying Ian's shock.

***

Zoning into the match, the first thing Ian noticed was the nighttime setting. Which came as a surprise because it was the first one he had heard of during the tournament. The second thing he noticed was that they were at the edge of a forest with a small village in front of them. The village itself looked like it could have been pulled directly out of the Middle Ages—if the town was the setting of a horror story.

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The village was less of an organized settlement and more of a hodgepodge of dilapidated structures made of stone, wood, and thatch. Even calling most of them buildings was a stretch of the imagination. The thatch roofs were gone on some buildings, while other buildings were almost completely caved in. None of the standing buildings looked very secure, and Ian was sure a small breeze might cause a few of them to collapse at any moment.

"The cliff faces acting as barriers are going to force us into that village," Selenia murmured as she pointed at the two barriers that boxed the village in.

It was then that Ian realized the entire arena was set in an oval that had the village in the center with two very small areas of forest on the far sides. Looking behind him, the trees only went back a few dozen feet before the cliff boxed them in from behind.

"Looks like we are fighting in the village," Lana said with a shrug. "Not the first time, but I don't think this will be like the horkers."

"Definitely not," Claire agreed, as the group moved out of the forest and rapidly crossed the clearing to take cover behind a half-collapsed wall. "Just in case you haven't noticed, these buildings are death traps, so stay out of them. Very few adventurers have stealth, but we should—"

Blood-curdling shrieks peeled out from the direction of the other forest. Shrieks that every member of Second Chance was intimately familiar with that sound after their last dungeon.

"They have a fucking necromancer," Ash snarled.

"How could they afford the SP cost?" Claire said with a shocked expression. "It should be impossible."

"Alright," Ian said, drawing everyone's attention so they didn't spiral. "Tram, you are going to lead us in. Lana, you are going to need to stay as safe as possible. Anyone that moves towards you, wand 'em. Claire, you are to protect Lana and watch for anyone flanking us."

Ian stopped to look over at Selenia and Ashlyn.

"Alright, you two," he continued with a grin. "I know you two have been holding back, so knock it off. Seek and destroy."

Ashlyn and Selenia looked at each other for a moment before feral grins swept across their faces. With a wink, Ashlyn vaulted over the fence and disappeared into the dilapidated village.

"I'll bring up the rear," Selenia said with an ecstatic nod.

"Alright, behind me," Tram said, bringing his shield up.

They all moved forward as the howl of ghouls cried out again off in the distance.

"You guys realize those are probably level 4200 or higher, right?" Claire asked quietly as they crept through one of the dirty streets.

When Claire finished talking, all the howls suddenly stopped.

Selenia tisked as she gave Claire a death stare. Before she had a chance to further chastise her teammate, a short creature that was hunched over and walking on shorter legs and elongated arms came into view at the end of the dirt road. It stopped, cloaked in the darkness, but Ian could make out its form as it tilted its head in their direction, as its eyes began to give off a white glow. Its jaw unhinged, and the white light could be seen coming from within as it let out an ear-piercing screech.

"Oh, we are so—" Tram was cut off by a click over his left shoulder.

Ian watched as Lana used her wand and hit the ghoul as it howled, blowing off its left arm and half of its upper chest as it was tossed to the ground. It squirmed for a second before pushing itself back up and charging them.

"My turn!" Selenia said, just as a dozen more ghouls came running around the corner behind the first. Ice walls appeared on both sides of the road before exploding. Ian recognized it from their earlier fight, where she had used it to kill entire teams' worth of enemies in a single go.

The thousands of dagger-sized projectiles tore holes through the oncoming swarm, causing all the ghouls to collapse. Ian felt his eyes go wide as half the monsters tried to regain their feet to continue their attack, even though the damage caused some of them to lose their ability to stay balanced. The ones who lost legs began to rapidly crawl towards them using their oversized arms.

"Back up as we kite them," Claire said, her daggers zipping from her void storage and slicing through the ghouls, targeting the points where their tendons and ligaments should have been. She managed to render a few of them motionless as Selenia began driving six-foot ice spears into all of their skulls, which seemed to finally put the creatures down for the count.

Catching a hint of movement in the building next to him, Ian managed to bring his spear to bear just in time to stab at a shadow as it tried to step past him.

"Interesting," came a woman's voice as the shadow suddenly changed directions and lunged at him.

Acting on instinct, Ian activated magic soul and managed to slice into the shadow as it twisted, causing it to jump back as blood splattered out from the weapon's arc.

His opponent grunted as the shadows receded, leaving a woman in black, form-fitting leather armor. He couldn't see her face, as it was covered in a black mask, but he could make out the wound that had sliced deep into her left arm.

"Lucky," she said, suddenly blurring. "You fight like a child. So much raw power and even more potential, but you aren't taking the opportunity to truly cultivate it."

Ian lunged forward to meet her attack and found himself immediately on the defensive. Even though she could only bring her strength to bear with her uninjured arm, she was outmaneuvering him. The worst part of the ordeal was that she didn't seem to be using any active skills to attack him. He tried a few quick jabs to push her back, but she twisted around his spear as if she knew exactly how he was going to aim.

Stepping into his guard, she deftly lashed out with the dagger and scored a slash across his forearm. He kicked out in response, managing to catch her hip and shove her back a good ten feet.

"You telegraph every move you make," the woman said with a sigh. "If you don't work to correct it now, you are going to die when you step into the middle of the high-tier. The monsters won't stay stupid forever."

Ian gritted his teeth and tried to ignore the sounds of the battle going on around him. He pushed it away as he couldn't afford to take his eyes off his opponent, or she would be on top of him. As he watched, she suddenly hopped twice, took a ready stance, and then was swallowed by her shadow.

Out of reflex, Ian swung his spear in an arc as he turned around. Instead of hitting the woman, he watched as she easily slid under his spear and brought her own foot up to kick into his stomach.

"You are growing too quickly," the woman muttered as Ian was knocked back a few steps as he struggled to maintain his footing. "It is obvious your stats eclipse mine. You need to seek out proper trainin—"

The woman's eyes went wide as two daggers tipped with purple energy suddenly exploded out of her sternum. She stared at him for a single second before her eyes went vacant and she collapsed on the ground.

"Ian," Claire cried out at him. "We need to move now!"

Ian turned to see dozens of ghouls lying across the street with white glowing pulses of light escaping out of all the holes his team had put into the creatures as they tried to close the gap. Even the ones that were no longer moving still had a dimming inner glow.

He moved to support Tram, who was backing away from the oncoming horde as he shield-bashed a ghoul before driving a sword into its eye. A quick glance let him know that Lana was healing Selenia, who was standing atop of another leather wearer who was missing his legs and had an ice spear driven into his chest.

Claire's daggers were returning to her and floating around her as she prepared to send another volley at the oncoming horde, as she beckoned Ian over.

"There isn't any end to them," she screamed. "We need to find a place that we can easily defend bef-"

Her explanation was cut off as two arrows suddenly embedded themselves in her chest. Claire's eyes got wide a split second before Ian watched as the arrows exploded, blowing her apart.

"Back to the wall!" Ian yelled as a second explosion detonated at the other end of the street, lighting up the road, revealing even more ghouls pouring in from the alleyways. "Lana, wand a few of the buildings at the end of the road. If we get lucky, maybe you'll drop a building on one of these assholes."

As they sprinted towards cover, Ian looked over his shoulder to see his sister's spirit arrow showing an afterimage trail into one of the buildings at the end of the street. It was followed a second later by the stone structure she had fired from exploding and collapsing. The giant fireball showed that the street was now completely filled with ghouls, and they were all charging at them.

His eyes refocused on Tram, who was motioning for him to keep going. When Tram realized he had gotten Ian's attention, he nodded and turned around. Ian wanted to call out, but Tram suddenly blurred forward into the closest ghoul.

"Shit," Ian swore, even though he knew it was the only way they were going to be able to get enough space to move up and flank the remaining members of the other team.

Vaulting over the wall, Ian was followed by Selenia and Lana. As Lana looked back over, she began to growl at the sight of Tram being overwhelmed.

"Nothing we can do about it right now," Selenia said, grabbing the petite woman's shoulder. "Don't waste what he gave us. We need to split up and try to get their remaining members. Ian, you go that way. Lana and I will head the other way. I think Ash got at least one, if not a couple of them, so we just need to finish the job."

He didn't like it, but he also didn't have a better plan. With a nod, he silently wished them luck as he sprinted down the road. As he looked down at the blood now covering his body—Claire's blood—all his fear and uncertainty began to turn into rage as he activated his conceal skill for the first time in weeks.