As always, Giliath demands your power stones!
*****
Meanwhile, earlier that day...
Somewhere beneath the City of Water, Ordis.
Inside its vast and extensive waterway system. In a particular area deep inside it, an ancient-looking door could be seen. All across Erebonia, only seven of these doors existed. These sealed away trial grounds, welcoming challengers near and far alike.
But no matter where you went, these seven trial grounds held but a single purpose.
To find what are called, Awakeners.
The trial grounds beneath Ordis's waterways were directly overseen by one of the Great Houses, the House of Cayenne. They've been monitoring this area for centuries. Ever since the House of Cayenne was founded. They don't let outsiders into this place, as they've used it to train up soldiers of their own.
That might be the case, but the door leading into this trial ground was wide open. That signaled it was presently in use. There was just one caveat. There were those outside of the Cayenne House that knew of this trial ground's existence.
Deep inside...
No matter which trial a trial goer goes into, there are seven floors. The very last floor was special, it was the true trial ground for those who wished to become an Awakener. Presently, the first six floors could be seen devoid of Monsters or Enemies. It was as if they were entirely wiped out. Considering this was the real world, loot chests and such did not exist. People ventured inside here solely to undergo the trial, or to gain combat experience that one couldn't easily achieve in normal places.
Before long, a group of five individuals reached down to the bottom of the six floor. There was one difference between this floor, compared to the rest. Its elevator was now glowing a bright blue. On its console, a VII could be seen, hinting that there was one more floor to clear. It didn't just end at six floors!
"I had a feeling there would be a seventh floor to this place. Those Monsters were pretty tough, but nothing crazy that we couldn't handle.", The voice of a man said. "Still, that lifeless doll was a pretty good warm-up, don't you guys think?", The man continued to ask.
"Heh. You took down most of its armor alone, Crow. My bullets barely even dented its armor. You call that thing a warm-up?", Another man retorted.
The first man had messy white hair and fierce red eyes. He was currently fifteen years old, soon to turn sixteen. In but a year or two, he would enroll at the popular military school, Thors Military Academy. This man was Crow Armbrust, one of the leading characters of the Cold Steel Saga. Accompanying him were three of his acquaintances who all shared similar ideology that made Crow form the Imperial Liberation Front in secrecy.
With Crow stood two men and a woman. Apart from these four was one other woman who was deceptively beautiful. Compared to the rest of these people, her beauty was on an entirely different level.
"We've already wasted enough time clearing these six floors. And now, you're telling me there's a seventh?", The third man beside the two said, lodging a complaint. He pushed the frames of his glasses upward in discontent. He was the studious one of the group. Unlike the rest, he was a scholar, and often criticized their target's policies while he was in school.
The other man appeared to be the complete opposite to the bespectacled man. He was bulky, and appeared fierce. Several scars could be seen on his body. He wore a green military vest, and had very short and buzzed light blue hair. He presently had a large orbal gatling gun hoisted around his arm, carrying it with ease. This gun had ten entire barrels, which only further proved his immense strength.
Compared to the bespectacled man, this second man shouldn't be trifled with. He even had the practical combat experience to back his strength he's obtained over the years. After all, amongst this group, he was the only one who actively served a Jaeger Corp. That was all in the past. His Jaeger Corp. is now no more, and fatefully came across Crow and joined his crew.
The Nobles were at odd ends with each other shortly after Giliath Osborne assumed the seat of Chancellor in the Imperial Diet. One plan led the acting head of House Albarea to accept squads of Jaegers to threaten Giliath, only to get wiped out in the process. Vulcan was the only survivor. Crow eventually came across Vulcan, who desired revenge very similar to his own, and joined.
The bespectacled man was placed in a similar position. He wasn't a Jaeger or anything. He was an academic. A scholar. He was constantly ostracized by his peers for his radical thinking. He even went as far as to initiate protests, and quite frequently at that. The school that this person attended, the Imperial Academy situated in Heimdallr, saw his persistence, and eventually expelled him from the Academy. Now on his own, he eventually came across Crow, fueled for like-minded revenge.
The names of these two men were Vulcan, and Gideon. Eventually, they would be known as V and G to Class VII in a few years down the line. Right now, they are but a simple party assisting Crow in his current endeavors. The latter only happened very recently, and even ahead of what originally took place in the games. This may or may not implicate things down the line. Gideon getting kicked out of the Academy, that is.
Perhaps that was what prompted Crow to take the Azure Trials now, instead of coming here in a year's time. If it went like it did originally, Crow wouldn't become the Azure Awakener until S1201. But here we are, it was S1200, January 2nd. This group had initially begun their descent during the new years celebration. Three days later, they successfully cleared out the entire six floors.
It wasn't through the efforts of these three men alone. There were two other women accompanying Crow.
One was a breathtaking woman with long, orange hair. She had emerald-colored eyes. If it wasn't for the fact she was wearing a magenta eyepatch over one of them, her beauty would shine even brighter. If there was one interesting thing about this woman, it would be her weapon of choice. It almost appeared to be a sword wielded by the Septian Church. A sword often used by Knights and Squires. A Templar Sword.
That was because it was in fact, a Templar Sword wielded at her waist! She used to be part of the Septian Church before coming to learn that her home was no more, thanks to the hands of a certain someone. You guessed it, Giliath Osborne. He seized their land while this woman was away. Despite that happening, she is still the prime of her youth, being eighteen years old. But knowing what went down, she left the Septian Church, and met up with Crow. She went by the name, Scarlet. Or S, for short. These four individuals formed C, G, V, and S.
All of them formed the Imperial Liberation Front. Crow knew what was best for them, but at times, Gideon especially, found it questionable as to why they were even down in these trial grounds in the first place.
That was because of who was presently beside these four individuals. She was an unrivaled beauty with sandy-ashen silver hair. A smile cracked on her lips, recalling the defeat of the fallen mechanical doll further behind them. It went poof, leaving nothing behind. Not even a single scrap of its destroyed armored body.
"I knew you'd perform well, Crow. You three are no slouches either. You defeated the guardian of the six floor, which of course, is the last one to meet the requirements to descend.", The woman said, only to walk up the elevator's console. Sure enough, there was a VII listed on it, signaling there was indeed, one more floor to conquer.
"So we're finally reaching the end of this place huh? Are you sure I'm what you say I am? What did you call them, Awakeners?", Crow questioned, still in doubt.
"I haven't a clue in Aidios's name of what's behind the last floor, but as long as it's rewarding enough to help meet our goals, I don't see a reason not to descend.", Scarlet responded.
"That I am not sure of either, but in the end if this is meant for you Crow, then we'll tag along. For the time being. It's definitely allowed me to stretch some of my muscles. That giant doll just now was no joke, haha!", Vulcan replied with a hearty laugh.
"I still find all of this questionable, but I can't help but be intrigued by this entire structure. Isn't this entire system under constant scrutiny by those noble bastards? What we're about to do is stealing something right underneath their eyes, isn't it?", Gideon questioned, musing to that fact. He hated the Nobles as much as he did Chancellor Osborne. Just knowing the fact that whatever they were now doing could potentially disturb the nobles above this place amused Gideon, causing him to smile.
"That is one way to put it. If Crow successfully claims what rests beneath this place, then this trial ground will serve no further purpose to the nobles that have used this place for generations. By doing so will deliver a heavy blow to them, should that strike your fancy. My only hand in this is whether Crow can become an Awakener. That is my purpose here.", The woman explained.