Chapter 60
"Here are the people selected for this gate, so listen up..."
****
"Chloe, Van, Drey, Ray Dawson, Kai Larson, Trisha Hunt, Belk, Din..."
Sony began calling out names continuously until about a hundred Aspirants stood before him.
Ray didn’t offer a single complaint.
He remained composed, standing with a quiet intensity alongside Kai.
Meanwhile, Van was visibly trembling; his nerves had spiked, and a cold sweat broke out across his brow the moment his name was announced.
"These are the Aspirants selected by your physical training instructor. Now, I don’t know his specific reasoning for picking you all, but if he did, his rationale must be valid. Which is why I want every one of you to do a clean job."
He paused briefly, his sharp eyes darting across the gathered teens for a few moments before he added;
"... Listen. This is a tier 1 gate. That means the majority of the beasts you will encounter there are awakened, accompanied by an advanced tier boss. Exercise extreme caution, as any singular slip-up can mean death."
Kai was simply grinning from ear to ear during the briefing, appearing entirely unbothered by the fact that he was about to head into a perilous gate.
Battle... yeah! That was the environment where he truly thrived.
"As you are exiting this room, you will meet a militant who will provide you all with VMS gear along with a standard communication device."
The Aspirants nodded, firm expressions settling onto their faces, though a few looked significantly less confident.
"Know this; you cannot contact us back here once you have been transported to that different world.
The moment the boss class beast is slain, you will have exactly ten minutes to reach the gate before it collapses. Do not stray too far away."
A hand shot up into the air.
— VMS gear? Why would we need it when we won’t be battling an Aberrant?
Sony shrugged, his expression unreadable.
"Safety measures. There are times when our organic legs reach their limits. VMS gears can help you traverse a distance of one metre with each launch. They are designed to help you reach the portal faster before it closes."
The group nodded in unison, absorbing Sony’s technical instructions.
"Kai Larson. As the strongest Aspirant in this class, I’m appointing you the leader of your group. Don’t let anybody die."
Kai quickly saluted, three fingers pressed firmly across his chest in a show of disciplined respect.
"Yes sir! I will surely do my absolute best to protect them all."
Sony nodded with a satisfied smile as he scanned the crowd once more. Then, with a firm jerk of his chin, he pointed toward the exit.
"You may all leave now."
— Yes Sir!
The Aspirants all saluted in an instant.
Regardless of whether Sony was a human or meta, a militant or just a normal instructor, he was still their superior; thus, he was well worth the salute.
"You may all depart. Best of luck."
— Best of luck, guys! Make our class proud!
— Yes! Show those blasted class B students that we are no less than them, even if they secured higher grades.
— Make sure you slay more beasts than that lot. Don’t disappoint us!
Wishes and parting encouragements poured in from the students who weren’t chosen.
The selected teens began filtering out of the room in a single file, the weight of the upcoming mission settling on their shoulders.
’And they are yapping, forgetting that some of us can’t fight,’ Van gulped inwardly as he reached the door and stepped out into the hall.
’I’m surely cooked.’
****
Within twenty minutes, a hundred Aspirants from both classes had filtered out of the main building.
A massive hover bus, which appeared capable of fitting over three hundred humans comfortably, waited for them on the tarmac.
They had all been issued their VMS gears and standard communication kits, which consisted of a sleek earpiece wirelessly synchronized with their heavy-duty wristwatches.
Nobody was spared; every single individual received their equipment, regardless of their perceived skill level.
Berg had been chosen as the leader of his own class, standing tall as the two groups prepared to face the unknown.
A smug smile rested on his face as all earpieces were not only connected to the Aspirant’s watches but to those of their designated leaders.
And without further ado, the entire group sauntered into the bus.
Once they were comfortable and the headcount was complete, the vehicle took off at great speed, leaving the Corps’ headquarters behind and transporting the teens toward the site where they would soon be battling.
Meanwhile, Ray sat beside Van.
Kai was currently positioned at the front of their row; as the leader, that was his assigned spot.
While the bus was practically hurtling away, Ray remained calm.
His eyes were closed as he mentally pulled up his glowing status screen.
’It’s best I assign my free stat points now. Who knows what I might encounter inside that gate.’
[Stat points: 2]
’Dump it all into strength.’
[Done]
[Stat points: 0]
[STR: 28 >>> 30]
’Nice. Now my strength and agility are perfectly evened out. I wonder if I will hit any cap with how fast I’m rising. System, will I?’
[For now, you won’t. You are miles away from your potential cap.]
’How many times will I be limited?’
[Calculating....]
[Error! Unknown]
’Just as I thought.’
A few minutes passed by in a heavy, tense silence as some Aspirants could be seen silently muttering a prayer for survival.
Van wasn’t left out of that ritual, as he clasped his hands tightly while whispering under his breath.
Ray, with his preternaturally sensitive ears, was able to pick up every single syllable they were all mumbling within the confines of the bus.
Kai was just gazing into space, his signature bandana tightly wrapped around his head to prevent his hair from spilling over his eyes.
A few more minutes elapsed and finally, the bus came to a jarring halt.
"We are here!" The driver announced with a grim, hollow tone.
"Let’s descend." Kai and Berg spoke in unison before immediately scowling at each other.
But putting their petty differences aside, the group disembarked from the bus.
The moment they stepped down onto the soil, they were met with a glowing circle floating a few inches from the ground, surrounded by thick, curling branches that formed a natural archway around the portal.
It pulsed with an ominous blue hue while reflecting its ghostly light back at the humans.
For a moment, the Aspirants all gulped loudly as beads of cold sweat trickled down their temples.
Every single hair on their bodies stood up in a primal warning.
But seeing their leaders out front, standing like unmovable mountains against the glow, they steeled themselves.
"Let’s Go." With that final command, Kai and Berg moved forth and vanished into the swirling gate.
"Good luck to you all. The bus will be waiting right here until you are finished."
Exhaling sharply, the others began stepping through one by one, vanishing from sight into the unknown.
Ray and Van stepped through the threshold together, disappearing into the light.
And soon enough, the entire clearing was silent, save for the faint sounds of leaves rustling in the wind.
The driver leaned back against the bus, crossing his arms over his chest as he stared at the empty archway.
Unknown to the Aspirants, this supposedly easy mission would become the hardest trial they had ever encountered.