The four survivors of the '973 trial' incident all stood there, their hands behind their backs in a military position, as the man in front of them kept walking around them in circles, analyzing them.
"Hm… interesting…"
"SIR!" Dan suddenly shouted, taking Leon aback, "What is your name, SIR!"
"Hm, these new awakeners really have guts, the name is General Mcford," he didn't avert his eyes from the four of them though, almost as if he was analyzing their auras.
"Thank you, SIR!" Dan bowed once the man passed in front of him.
[Please don't ever do that.]
'I won't.'
"Anyway," Mcford went back to his original position, the piece of paper and pen still in hand, "You," he pointed at Dan, "Show me what you've got."
There were actually no other soldiers on the school grounds right now, Mcford was the only person allowed to enter, and it was to keep their powers private to the minimum amount of people.
"SIR, YES, SIR!" Dan summoned his bell out of nowhere, then shook it gently and threw it on the ground.
~DING, FWISH~
Foxxy, the golden fox, suddenly appeared, its body coming out of the bell.
"I can summon golden beasts, but I'm only limited to one for now," Dan spoke as he caressed the fox's head.
"Interesting…" Mcford continued.
Alice showed her [Star Arrows] and Noah his [Energy Balls], then it was Leon's turn.
"You're the last one," he looked at Leon.
"Talent is Devour, but I can't really show it, sorry," Leon shrugged, "It does increase my physical attacks though as the aura helps me."
Leon was surrounded with aura, and he punched several times in the air, each of his punches slashing the air, all looking very powerful.
"Alright," he noted that down.
And with that, everything was ready.
"Well, then, it's time to go, I hope you packed all your bags because I won't wait a single second for you all," General Mcford spoke as he walked toward the gate, behind him was a pretty big yellow bus, able to carry around 70-100 people in it.
"…" everyone nodded as they carried their respective luggage, and followed the general inside the bus, though all Leon had was a backpack with a few pieces of clothing.
They all climbed inside the bus while Mcford took the driver's seat, starting up the engine.
[I wonder where they are taking us.]
"Doesn't matter, we won't be seeing this school anymore though, what a fucking nightmare," yesterday at this hour, everyone was excitedly getting ready for the awakening ceremony, but now here they were.
Leon sat on one of the chairs at the back, observing the scenery, and all the others did as well, each one of them separated.
But…
"sLLSSL~" Foxxy suddenly escaped Dan's embrace and went over to sit on Leon's laps.
"Seems like she likes you, huh," Dan appeared and smiled as he saw the little fox snuggle on Leon, who kept gently caressing its head.
"Watch out, EGO might get jealous," Leon sarcastically said, and both him and Dan laughed out loud, easing up the atmosphere of the bus.
[Sooo funny.]
"MAKE LESS NOISE BACK THERE," General Mcford shouted from his position, and the two quieted down.
And so, just like that, a few hours passed.
~FWISH, TUT~
"We've arrived," the general spoke, and all students got ready to leave.
They were quite literally in the middle of nowhere, all there was in front of them is an extremely large building with a sign that said 'Crimson Earth.'
A screen on top of the building informed them of where they were.
[Welcome to the 'Ascension Preparation' section of the program, you will spend a week here alongside your classmates as you await for the beginning of the ascension challenge.]
"…"
Beside them were dozens of other buses that looked exactly like theirs, many people leaving them, although this time there were 10 to 20 people, instead of 4.
[18372 people have managed to complete the trial!]
No one TRULY knew what that ascension challenge was about, but the sole fact so many people would need to participate was already enough of an indicator of the sheer difficulty.
How many would survive at the end?
10000? 1000? 500?
[Doesn't matter, as long as we win, we can devour them all for all I care.]
"Knew you would say that."
And the final screen that appeared was…
[Timer before 'Ascension' challenge: 6 days 22 hours 47 minutes.]
[Those who complete it will have the chance to access the 'first city' for awakeners, Nekros.]
"…"
[Not gonna lie, this is extremely suspicious.]
"Yeah."
[But… as long as there is a way to get stronger and to devour, then I don't care, kick their asses, Host!]
"We should stick together," Dan spoke to Leon, he had noticed that the other groups of students from different schools also did the same, "Every school is going to try to pass together, meaning that we're at an immense disadvantage."
"I agree," Noah was also listening, "I'm pretty sure we are the school with the least amount of survivors."
Everyone was fighting for a chance to access the first city (and possibly the academy) since doing so and becoming stronger was guaranteeing your future: fame, money, strength, you would have it all.
Conquering 'Dimensions', climbing the rankings as an awakener, all of this was kind of new for Leon, but he knew he needed to go through it anyway.
"Anyway, let's go," Dan gestured, and all four of them headed inside the facility.
But surprisingly… although the exterior of the facility was that of an abandoned complex…
The interior… was a different story.
It was a sight to behold.
The moment they stepped inside, they were greeted by luxurious surroundings, unlike the dilapidated exterior. The walls were adorned with exquisite paintings, the floors were made of polished marble, and the air was filled with the scent of fresh flowers.
They were only in the lobby, but there were already thousands upon thousands of people moving around, yet still enough space to freely move without bumping on anybody, this was just how big this place was, probably created with the thought of holding around 30000 people in it.
[Cafeteria - Right]
[Rooms (please grab your key at the desk using the screen) - Middle]
[Training area - Left]
These massive screens could be seen anywhere from the lobby, and they indicated the hallway you needed to go through for the location it described.
The cafeteria was on the right hallway, to get food.
The rooms were the middle hallway, to sleep and rest.
And the most odd of them all, the training area was on the left.
Each of these sections were giant as well, easily able to withstand thousands of people.
"They thought of everything," Leon mumbled to himself.
[This is actually better than I thought, huh.]
"I'm starving, let's go to the cafeteria," Dan's stomach growled, and everyone nodded.
They were a group of 4, the smallest group of this entire facility, since everyone else had at least 10-15 people survive.
And now… the countdown for the 'ascension' examination began.
But first, they needed to spend a week in this facility.