Ascenders Rift

The Training Zone inside of the helmet was a peculiar one; indeed, one that seemed no different from reality with mountains, forests, and green pastures. If anything, one would notice that the only difference here laid in the fact that there were beasts and creatures with slight variations from those in the real world. They roamed the vast fields and forestlands, while some took to the broad blue skies soaring towards the endless horizons.

Yet, within this majestic world of beasts, many different uncommon beings were appearing from out of emptiness. As they appeared, a voice sounded into each and every one of their minds:

[Welcome to the Training Zone!]

[You have now entered the Primitive Forest; your current objective is to kill one creature. In doing so, you will earn the right to leave the Training Zone. If you fail to kill any beast, then there is only one way to exit.]

The system halted at this point before continuing as if shifting the topic:

[Commencing program…]

The students were a bit startled, as a few of them had looks of shocks on their faces, but as for the other, they carried looks of excitement as they shouted.

"Haha! I can finally be like those heroes; I can make my legend starting today!" A young adult said as he lifted his head and laughed, his eyes beamed with joy as if he could picture himself as a mighty warrior that saved the world.

A few other like-minded individuals didn't want him to hog this glory; they spoke at the same time.

"What are you saying? In my legend, you'll be nothing more than a side character, for I am the true protagonist!" One person said arrogantly.

"You're all spouting non-sense! I am the one!"

"No, I am!"

As they spoke, a few others sharing similar ideologies spoke in succession, causing the field to become a noisy mess. Among this crowd, Michael was also visible; his eyes were filled with arrogance and contempt as he thought to himself, "Hmph! All of these fools, look at them thinking that they're all something, only I can climb to the peak of humans..."

Although Michael was like them, he didn't like such thought to be open. He kept a refined appearance as he gazed into the distance as if he was looking beyond the world rather than himself, a sight akin to that of a true warrior.

A few females couldn't help but notice Michael's posture and blush as they spoke in hushed tones.

"Don't you think Michael is the best?" One girl said.

"Mm. Michael's so different from them; I think he'll be the one to be the leader of us all," Another said.

At this time, the individual who spoke first was still laughing like an idiot as he adopted a heroic stance. But it was at this moment, a change had occurred. As if it didn't need an introduction, a vicious bird swooped down from the sky and hooked its claws into the torso of the young man.

"Ah! Let me go! Noooo!" The young man wailed in pain as terror was shown on his face. Yet, shortly after, it flapped its large wings kicking up heavy winds as it dragged his screaming and struggling body towards the heavens before vanishing into the clouds.

A silence soon after filling the area, as everyone looked at the blood-stained ground where the young man had stood. The self-proclaimed heroes became frightened as they fell to their knees while some pissed their pants, a few females also started crying.

"I... I don't want to do this anymore, let me out!" A girl said as she tried to take the helmet from her head, but try as she might, there was no way to exit the game.

It seemed that she had failed to realize, but in truth, the only way to leave this world was through claiming victory over one creature or death.

While everyone was tossed into a state of panic, the creatures of the wilderness didn't hold back; they swiftly charged towards the nearest prey. One such beast was a tiger that was almost double the size of a regular one, it lunged through the air and bit off the leg of a crying female before it started to eat.

As everyone saw this second victim, their faces sunk even further as they began to scatter in all directions while shouting in panic.

"Runaway! Quickly run away!"

Be it previously self-proclaimed heroes, and Michael, everyone ran away in fear. While running, however, Michael had gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, it seems as if he was trying to convince himself of something.

A distance away from this sector, another group was similarly running away from a large group of colorful snakes. Looking at them closely, one would notice that there were a few familiar characters.

Susie, with her rustling dyed reddish-black hair, was running as fast as she could with fear in his eyes, and her body covered in cuts and bruises. Like her, a few other students from the newly enrolled class were running as well.

"I don't want to die! I don't want to die!" Susie said as she ran with all her might, despite knowing that it's a fake world. The environment and pain felt, was far too real, she had already forgotten that this place would not kill her if she died.

Her eyes ran with tears as she ran and wiped them, not too far behind everyone. The snakes were slithering towards them at an alarming rate, although they weren't as fast as them, because of the environment, they were able easily able to maneuver more quickly than panicked humans.

Soon, a few stragglers that tripped were entangled before being bit by their venomous fangs. Susie, who had looked back had caught sight of this, her fear only grew more intense as she turned to run even faster, but it was at this time she had lost her footing falling down a nearby ditch.

The others who saw this didn't even look back and continued to press forward. Susie, who had fallen was now in a pitiful state, she lifted her trembling hand but couldn't move it properly, while her eyes leaked with tears as she spoke, "Why me? Why do I have to go through this?"

As she thought this, the snakes were now already gaining on their positions. In moments, a few had arrived at her location, not wasting even a single moment before they slithered towards her.

Susie looked at the snakes that charged towards her with a look of weakness, she closed her eyes prepared to be eaten, but it was at this time, she recalled Evan's words.

"If you can work up the courage to fight, the courage to be strong. Then, you can slowly carve out a path to the future...'

As Susie remembered those words, the look in her eyes changed, as she bit her lips and grabbed the nearest rock, while her hand was still a bit weak through use of adrenaline she had managed to lift it as a fierce look came onto her face.

"I will not die!" Susie shouted as she bashed the rock towards one of the snake's head, quickly the head burst as the snake died in an instant.

Susie smiled as she saw this, her eyes grew weak, and her hand fell downwards as if she was about to lose consciousness. Yet, it was at this time; she saw the back of a handsome young man with black hair that had a tinge of red, he wielded a narrow tree branch and struck each of the snakes in their head before he turned and looked at her, as he did this he smirked and spoke, "Well said..."

Not long after, Susie's consciousness faded, as the young man picked her up and carried her towards the others. The young man soon quickly caught up to the others that had escaped; they were now seated within a nearby cave that was blocked with randomly gathered twigs and shrubberies.

He shook his head and thought, "I only came to check and see what this device was about, never did I think it would be like this, as for these guys. Their survival skills are truly lacking... sigh."

As the young man said this, he quickly entered the cavern and heard a startled shout, "Who goes there?"

The young man seeing this, spoke, "It's me, Rick, I'm from your group!"

The person who spoke soon noticed and made a sigh of relief as he spoke, "So it's classmate Rick, I'm glad, I didn't know what to think... we've been through so much shit this past two hours. Eh? Is that...?" The person soon notice a girl was in Rick's arms, Rick hurriedly passed her over to him as he spoke, "She is classmate Susie, I just so happened to find her just now, you should bring her to a corner to get rest."

"Ah, t-that's good. Well done, Rick!" The classmate said with a hint of awkwardness as he had recalled leaving her behind.

Rick paid him no mind as he turned to head out of the cave, but it was at this time, he saw through the corner of his eyes a familiar golden-haired beauty, one that thawed even his icy soul.

She was lying on the ground with a few wounds on her body; her breath was slightly haggard. Rick's eyes when wide when he saw Emilia, they turned dark when he shouted, "What happened to her?!"

The classmates who heard his words were startled; they trembled as they saw his savage face as they spoke, "I-I-It was the snake, one bit her leg, we don't know what to do..."

Rick shook his head at this and ran over while thinking, "So foolish, you don't even know how to treat a snake's venomous wound..."

Quickly, Rick had arrived at Emilia's position and placed his hand on her forehead and saw that her face was reddish, while her head was steaming with heat. From her leg, was a dark mark that slowly spreading her skin upwards from the bite mark.

Rick didn't waste any time, as he sat down and cut the bite wound. After doing this, he placed his mouth on her soft leg and began to suck and spit the blood.

The classmates seeing his actions were surprised, as some of the females blushed, while the men carried looks of shame. However, due to Rick's state of mind, he paid them no mind, he had momentarily forgotten that this was a fake world, falling prey to these strange emotions.

Not long after, Emilia's complexion had turned for the better. She slightly opened her eyes and saw the man that held her leg and was astonished, her face turned red as she tried to speak, "T-T-This... Mr. Rick! Y-You, don't have to..."

Rick smiled as he heard these words, he replied, "No need to fret, leave it to me."

Emilia had a blush on her face. She lowered her head, not daring to look up as she spoke, "T-Thank you..."

Rick nodded and didn't reply; he saw that the marking had faded; he started to treat the wound using primitive means.

As this warm scene continued, everyone had continued to mind their injuries as they tried to recount their earlier crisis. The scene regaining a temporary peace…

****

The time soon shifted to that of the evening hours, as the sky took on a warmer hue.

Currently, within a distant part of these lands, was an interesting scene. A bear was chasing a fat man whose face was filled with panic as he thought, "What the hell is this? A fucking bear? You've got to be kidding me, how am I to face this?"

While Fatty Joe ran, his fat would shake up and down as he moved through the bushes at a speed, not like normal men his size. He was only moments away from losing his mind, but it was at this time he suddenly saw a young lady coming towards him.

She was a woman with short hair bundled together into a ponytail, running through the woods with nimble and agile movements as the hems on her dress fluttered wildly, occasionally revealing a spectacular sight.

Fatty Joe seeing this felt breathless, as he momentarily fell into a daze, but it was at this time, he heard the roar of the bear behind him as a whoosh of wind was felt at the back of his neck.

Fatty Joe's eyes then changed, he knew that the bear was attacking, he was scared to no ends, but in the face of a beautiful woman traveling towards his direction, there was no way he was going to give up without putting up one last fight.

As the saying goes, it is the beautiful woman that leads to a man's end, Fatty Joe having thought this than did the unthinkable, he turned around and jumped at the snarling bear that struck at him with both of its paws as he shouted, "Come at me!"

Both man and bear charged at each other like two tanks in a battlefield, creating a shocking sight that will be never be forgotten to the eyes of the beauty in witness.