Boom! Boom! Boom!
Strings of explosions were triggered, plunging an entire battlefield into chaos.
Flashes of colorful lights illuminated the field, giving brief images of the clash that was going on.
In the middle of the field, three figures could be seen with their backs against each other. Of course, these are none other than Alice, Blake, and Mary.
They're in a middle of a fierce fight against demons, this time though, they are with each other and are fighting against a massive horde that shows no signs of ending.
The atmosphere around them was grim. It was dark, depressing, and hopeless. A seemingly never-ending fog encompasses the field. As they surveyed their surroundings, all they could see was a sea of crimson eyes glaring at them from the dark.
These are demons who entered their berserk state under the influence of the Black Fog, and this place is a Simulation of what might come to the last bastion soon.
They're at the last stretch of their training...
At this point, they're honing their teamwork through these simulations. Their teamwork wasn't that bad, to begin with, but it certainly has a lot of room for improvement. Well, what better way to hone that than being on a battlefield, yeah?
Seeing the hair-raising sight before them, Alice took a deep breath.
These past two months that they spent fighting against these things forced them to get used to this kind of environment that doesn't bother them anymore.
She had certainly grown during these tough times. This isn't some random boasting either, Alice isn't someone who flaunts her strength like that. She meant it when she says that she had grown so much after these past two months of constant fighting.
She stepped forward, holding her sword firmly, she hoisted it up and signaled the start of the battle by attacking first.
This is no place to retreat. It's fight or die. There's nothing in between. If they take a step back here, the innocent will suffer and as a Knight, she couldn't possibly allow that to happen.
The moment she attacked, all hell broke loose.
Madness descended and the three of them were immediately swallowed by the hoard.
It's such a horrible sight. The fact that there are only three of them fighting against all of this was rather absurd, thankfully though this is just a simulation in the end.
That being said, these three certainly didn't act as if they were inside a simulation. They've treated every scenario as real as it could get and it's not hard to do so given how realistic the simulation was.
Although they were overwhelmed by the number of demons they were facing, the three of them didn't back down. They met aggression with equal aggression. They fought tooth and nail, taking down as many as they could.
They've grown numb from the pain, sometimes they wouldn't even know they've lost a limb until it hinders them.
They fought with their lives on the line and with everything at stake. Simply put, they fought as they should fulfill their duty.
Ashton himself was here to witness all of this happen. And he was nodding in appreciation.
This kind of ferocity isn't something that the three of them possessed before all of this happened. Instead, it was nurtured by the environment that they were exposed to and they used it to survive.
The tough battles squeezed out their potential, allowing them to overcome their shortcomings and improve at an unprecedented rate.
Ashton could see himself to them. And that isn't so bad. At least they're becoming stronger and stronger.
He watched until the battle was over. As expected, the three of them died by igniting their cultivation base and going out with a loud explosion. Their death weakened the Black Fog so that it started dissipating slowly and demons within it were greatly lessened as well. The simulation ends there.
Well, it wasn't a clean victory. The results were fine for training standards but for real life? That won't do.
The number of demons left behind by them is still enough to wreak absolute havoc on Last Bastion. And while Ashton would be there to make sure that doesn't happen, it's not fair to always rely on him.
If anything, Ashton doesn't want them to develop a reliance on him unless it's the last resort. He wants them to be self-sufficient.
But since this is just the beginning of their long journey, it's fine. This is already a good result.
"Damn it, it didn't kill them all." Alice cursed after removing the helmet.
"Sorry, I didn't kill that Provocator fast enough. If I did then it should've been a wipeout after our ignition." Blake sighed.
"It's alright guys, don't sweat it too much."
"But Mary...the Black Fog should be visible by now. We don't have much time." Alice sounded worried.
"I get that, but do remember that we're fighting without Ash." She said, "His buffs are strong, if we have them then our performance should be better. Plus, he's more experienced than we do, I'm sure he could think of something."
"I envy your positivity sometimes." Blake mumbled on the side, massaging his neck due to discomfort.
"Good work there, you three..."
The trio turned around and saw Ashton standing behind them. They shifted their positions to face him.
"Hey, how's outside? Are we still fine?" Alice asked, concern evident in her voice.
"Peachy." Ashton replied, "I already made a trip outside to check the situation. The Black Fog will come from the west."
"How about the cult? What's the status?" Blake asked.
"They're keeping a low profile. No Skydemons were spotted ever since you three started training." Ashton replied.
"That's good." Mary sighed, "I just hope that they won't take advantage of the Black Fog."
The worst scenario is that, while they are fighting against the march of the Black Fog is also when the Cult of the Skydemon launches a full attack against Fantasia.
Although they've become strong enough to deal with demons, they can't be on two battlefields at the same time. If the cult attacks while they're absent, then Fantasia is in deep trouble.
"Well, don't worry too much about that. Oracle Felicia was handling the matter personally so the damages shouldn't be too high."
"Ugh, even if you say that there's no way I can sit still like this. Come on guys, let's return to the simulation. This time we're gonna clear it!" Alice held on to the helmet but Ashton pried it away from her hands, giving her a stern gaze.
"What!? Why?" She complained.
"Woman, you're tired." Ashton reprimanded. "And so are they."
He pointed at Blake and Mary who looked like zombies at this point.
"You three haven't had a good rest this past week and it's taking a toll on you." Ashton added, "Your performance is alright, even if you use the rest of the time you have in a constant grind, you won't see much improvement."
"What you need is proper rest." He stated, "You won't be doing any simulations anymore during the remainder of your stay here. Instead, you'd use this time to rest, cleansing your body from all sorts of fatigue so that you can perform at your peak state when I need you. Are we clear?"
"Yes, Boss." Alice deflated.
"Good." Ashton nodded.
He then waved his hand the three suddenly started levitating in the air. He's using Psychokinesis to carry all of them.
They also just noticed that Aria was also there, floating with them.
"Oh, hey. What happened to you?" Mary asked after seeing Aria's grime-filled face.
Aria was too embarrassed to answer so Ashton did it for her: "She's overworking worse than you three do. I needed to forcibly pry her from her seat because she just won't stand up. She even forgot what it's like to shower I think."
"I did not forget how to take a shower! I was just too absorbed in my inventions, okay!?" Aria protested.
"Doesn't change the fact that you're smelly." Ashton flatly replied.
He eventually arrived at the doors of the Rejuvenation Hot Springs. It's divided into male and female sections. He threw the girls in the female section of the course and said:
"Clean yourselves and soak in the Hot Springs. You can sleep in there just fine, that should haste your recovery."
After saying that, he closed the door and brought Blake into the male section with him.
"Thanks. You saved me from walking here myself."
"You're welcome, I guess." Ashton sighed as he brought him down.
Then the two of them headed to the showers to clean themselves first before soaking in the hot springs.
"Whew...damn, this is nice. I should go here more often." Blake said.
"I honestly don't know why none of you did. I mean, didn't lock this place off, you all could've gone here to try it yourselves." Ashton said in a confused manner.
"...I guess we're too caught up with the situation. Things aren't looking good and we're pressed for time so it didn't come to us."
"True, but I did say that I'll handle the situation if things go south didn't I?"
"Well, you can't expect us to just believe that you know?" Blake sighed, "What was your plan anyway?"
Ashton talked, Blake stared...
"Are you kidding me?"
"No?"
