Hard Mode Awakening Challenge

The last fifteen minutes had become a game of cat and mouse, only for the cats to find themselves quickly put down as they found Ian. His darker-colored armor helped him blend in among the debris scattered around the dilapidated buildings. Once the putrid stench of the ghoul blood that liberally coated him was added into the mix, the creatures began walking right past without noticing his presence.

He slid out from behind the old crates and summoned his spear to his hand as he activated magic soul. The single ghoul that had entered the alley to search for him didn't even have time to howl as the magic blade erupted from its forehead. Ian had a savage grin as he watched the light shining from its eyes and mouth to dim and die, returning the alley back into shadows and darkness.

He had killed nearly twenty of the creatures now, and they were beginning to thin out. The first five minutes after he had reentered the town had been non-stop fighting, but after he had dispatched the first couple of groups, he managed to slip away. He wasn't sure if Lana and Selenia had pulled most of the attention to their side, but he hadn't heard any explosions or howls in the past few minutes. Up until that point, the sounds of battle had been a constant on and off again backdrop during his search for the enemy team.

Storing his spear, he began to creep through the alleyways before ducking into the dilapidated structures. Every creak from the wind made him think that he was going to be killed by a collapsing building, but the views they provided through their mostly shuttered windows, damaged walls, and busted doors allowed him to skirt a few of the ghouls and safely make his way back to the main road that bisected the center of town.

As he moved to look through a set of damaged shutters, he discovered the building his sister had shot her spirit arrow into was almost directly in front of him, and the flickers of soft light within told him that there was someone still moving around inside.

With that discovery, he had to fight the urge to charge across the street and engage them. However heroic it sounded, he knew the white light from the moon lit up the street well enough that he would never make it across without pulling an entire swarm down on top of himself. Besides, after taking a closer look around the building, he could easily make out the ghouls that were stationed around the building.

Checking a sigh, he turned his attention to the rest of his surroundings. He could see all the way down the road to his left, giving him a good view of the cliff face that acted as the edge of the arena. On the other side, he could only see down a couple of buildings. The earlier explosion had toppled the building his sister had been in, and the wreckage had fallen to create a mound across the main road.

Ian grimaced as he saw more ghouls climbing back over the fallen building from the other side. Their internal white light showed they were riddled with holes, with some even missing whole arms or large pieces of their chests. He even saw one pulling itself over the rubble without any legs. At least his friends had made a good showing of themselves before they went down.

The light sound of footsteps made Ian tense up and push himself farther back into the shadows of the building. As he held himself still, he saw a short person in dark leather sprint across the street and come to a stop just outside the door next to the window he had looked out. He activated his analyze skill as he held his breath.

Analyze Results - Human

LVL: 4891

Ian smirked as the person peeked in before slowly making their way into the room while taking care not to make any additional noise. After taking a few steps, they stopped for a second and crouched as if they had seen something through one of the windows. When a bow appeared in their hands, Ian took action.

Stepping forward, Ian summoned his gladius to his hand, activated magic soul, and cleaved his enemy's head from their neck in a single, smooth movement. As their head rolled across the floor, a bone-chilling scream from across the street was all Ian needed to hear to know that he had been discovered.

Making a decision he knew he was going to regret, Ian rushed out onto the street and attempted to race into the building before the large group crossing the rubble could block him. Unfortunately, he was fighting for his life less than three steps from the entrance when more than a dozen ghouls erupted from the adjacent alleyways and the first floor of the building he was trying to enter.

"Damnit!" Ian screamed as he activated magical soul and chopped both the forearms off of the creature reaching for him. Stepping forward, he cleaved the ghoul in half as his frustration boiled over. He knew he was on borrowed time, but he was going to cause as much damage as he could.

The next few moments were a whirlwind of severed limbs and dying ghouls. By the time he cut down the eighth one, he thought he may have been able to fight his way out when he found himself surrounded as the rest of the ghouls showed up. As he swung his sword to create space, the undead creatures gave up all pretext of survival and mobbed him. He was able to cut through two of them before teeth and claws tore into his arms and legs as he was pulled to the ground.

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Ian screamed in pain as he desperately tried to fight his way free. He was sure he was going to die, which left him dumbfounded when the creatures suddenly let him go and backed up to form a circle around him.

Growling, Ian could feel the blood making his body slick and began funneling his healing touch into himself. It wasn't enough to fix him before he died, but it may give him an opportunity to do more damage.

"Well done, Zero," came an accented voice that drew Ian's attention. He watched the ghouls part to reveal a man and woman in battle robes. "Less than half our level, yet your team managed to knock four of us out, as well as kill 221 of my summons. If we weren't in a curated simulation, this battle would take me multiple years to recover from. I must admit I am incredibly impressed."

Ian coughed a couple of times before moving himself into a sitting position and really giving the two a good look in the moonlight. Both had their helmets off, showing their dark hair and eyes.

"You seem to have the advantage over me," Ian said, trying to buy time. The thought of attempting to charge them came to mind, but with his arms and legs as injured as they were, his mobility was incredibly limited.

"Ah, that would be true. My name is Maximus, and my lovely companion here is Estrella. We are co-leaders of the Threshold party known as Mana's Grasp, the second most powerful group in our clan in the mid-tier." The man took a deep breath and looked around. "We had only seen a few of your streams, but matching wits with your team leaves me with a greater understanding on why we were ordered to join this tournament now. You need to be tempered before you reach the high-tier."

Realizing he wasn't going to be able to do anything, Ian canceled his concealment skill before reaching up and removing his helmet.

"Yes, yes. Every single member of your clan has tried to tell similar," Ian said, struggling to keep his mind straight over the pain. "Did it ever occur to you guys you could have just sent me a fucking message? I'm aware my team and I don't have decades of experience, and we are aware that there are jumps in difficulty coming up soon.

"So," Ian said, looking between the two, "now that I am a captive audience, what do you want?"

"You seem kind of…what is the English word?" Estrella said before tapping a finger on her lips. "Unhappy, yes, that is it. Unhappy to receive our assistance."

Ian just stared at her for a moment before he started laughing. So many things that Diana had alluded to made sense now.

"Is he broken?" Estrella asked her counterpart.

"Fuck no I'm not broken," Ian growled, growing more pissed off by the second. "I'm in a shit ton of pain and bleeding to death, and you two want me to listen to your bullshit here in the middle of the tournament. This might be a game for you, but you all just killed my friends. So, you will have to forgive me if I don't give a shit about anything you all say right now."

Ian just rolled his eyes as they began talking to him again. It may be a bit childish, and they may even have things to say that would be helpful in the future. It no longer mattered because Ian was done with this shit. He was getting woozy and thought listening to their bullshit at this point would kill him faster than the blood loss.

Just as he was thinking of attempting to pull out and throw his spear at them, he felt a strange, yet familiar pull from his right. Smiling he looked up at the two and began chuckling.

"—weapons skills to…what did I say that was funny?" Maximus asked.

"I have no idea," Ian said, still chuckling. "I haven't been listening to you at all."

"We are just trying to help you," Estrella said angrily. "We have been doing this for nearly three decades. You should be thankful we are taking the time to assist you instead of pushing for the threshold."

"Someone needs to teach you guys how not to be so socially awkward," Ian snorted. "Next time you try to lecture someone after killing their friends, save everyone some time and get bent."

Ian flipped them off with a smirk right as the entire world started to move in slow motion. A fireball grew out of Estrella's hand as Maximus's head suddenly snapped to the side. His eyes went wide as he tried to yell, but a glowing, red arrow zipped into view right before the entire world went white.

***

Ian was suddenly standing in front of the portal, surrounded by people screaming. Before he could say anything, Ashlyn nearly bowled him over with a hug.

"I am so sorry, Ian. I didn't want to blow you up!"

Chuckling, Ian just patted her back. "I'm glad you did. It was better than those stupid fucks lecturing me to death while I bled to death."

"Dude, they are straight up out of touch with reality," Tram said in agreement. "Haven't they ever heard of email? There is no way they couldn't get a message to you with how well known you are. I almost feel embarrassed for them."

"Diana was right," Claire said, coming to give Ian and Ashlyn both hugs. "They are definitely zealots. They need to spend less time in the dungeon and more time around people. Though with three decades of diving, it isn't surprising they have developed a few quirks."

Ian gave Claire a nod at the thought of her parents.

"If Lana and I hadn't run out of mana, we could have taken them," Selenia exclaimed while bouncing up and down. "You should have seen us! I was all like, woosh, crack, boom! And Lana was all like, click boom and then another click boom!"

"It was extremely impressive," Claire added as Lana took her place and gave Ash and Ian a hug. "Selenia is currently being touted as the most powerful mage in the mid-tier right now. Not for total power, but for sustainability."

Ian nodded. It made a lot of sense.

"You alright?" his sister asked, garnering Ian's attention.

"No," Ian said after a moment. "I'm tired of all of this. Tired of watching you all die in front of me. I feel like I…I'm honestly not sure what I feel right now." He took a deep breath and gave her a smile. "I need to go speak with Ruth, and then I think I need to go clear my head for a bit."

"I know it is hard," Ashlyn said, understanding in her eyes. "We just have to keep reminding ourselves that this will help make us stronger, so we can better help each other in the future. Even if it is just a little boost, if it can prevent any of us from dying for real, then it will be worth it."

Ian nodded as his sister looked at the rest of the party. "I'm starving, so who wants to get some food?"

As Ashlyn started leading them out, Lana came up to stand next to him.

"Are you alright?" she asked, concern evident in her tone.

"I'm not," he said with a sigh. "I just need some time to work all of this out."

She nodded as they left the portal room in companionable silence.