Ascenders Rift

The icy wind blew across the night, swaying the hedges and tree limbs as it fluttered the clothes of those gathered within this region. Before long, the lights from the round moon hidden behind a few clouds became even more prominent. Almost as if seeking to bear witness to the battle which was about to take place.

Alan, Angeline, Hank, and Thomas stood silently at the four corners, carefully observing Alton, Marcus, and Donna. Suddenly, a stronger gust of wind blew, rustling the hairs of everyone, but as this happened, the eyes behind the glasses of Alton and his company gleamed as a change had occurred.

Bang! With an explosive sound, their bodies gave off a dense array of different powers as a stream of water rose from the lake wrapping around Donna's body, as it formed an ultra-condensed full-body suit of river water.

Marcus's body became a meter larger as he lifted his head and roared like a barbarian; he even grasped two medieval-style battle axes in each of his hands.

As for Alton, his body remained the same apart from one of his hands. It had transformed into the weapon with a shimmering edge that was roughly 1.5 meters long.

"Be careful; their awakened abilities are not of the commons standard! Instructor Al, I'll be taking that woman as I have a bone to pick with her," Angeline said as she in a similar fashion to Breya took out a thread-like weapon, but if one looked closely, they noticed that it was more of a whip than a thread, a whip with thorns.

"Tsk! They won't get the jump on us this time, leave that muscle born freak to us," Hank said as he clicked the gun in his hands while stuffing one arm into a compartment on his backpack.

"..." Thomas remained silent as he smiled, eyeing Marcus as he nodded towards Hank.

Alan, hearing their words, smiled as he spoke, "Fine, let's do it your way," Yet, though Alan said this, his mind was a bit surprised when he looked at everyone's classes and levels.

[Angeline Level 2 - Flower Queen]

[Hank Level 1 - Weapon Master]

[Thomas Level 1 - Assassin]

---

[Donna Level 2 - Liquid User]

[Marcus Level 2 - Power User]

[Alton Level 2 - Shape Shifter]

'No wonder they were in such a predicament last time, I'm surprised that they had even managed to escape from these bastards when they're all at Level 2. Still, I suppose right now isn't the time to be wandering off into thoughts,' Alan thought to himself as he raised his arm to the side, causing a large blade to appear in his grasp.

The moment the blade appeared; a terrifying power came from his body that caused everyone's face to change.

"This guy... he's on the cusp of Level 3, Donna, Marcus, deal with the others, I'll handle him," Alton said with a strange glint in his eyes.

"Understood," Donna and Marcus replied as they glared at Angeline and the others.

As Alton said his words, his body leaned forwards before his frame became a bit leaner and more fit for speed. Soon after, he pressed against the ground with his foot pushing his body towards Alan as he left behind a remnant shade at his previous location.

In moments he had appeared directly before Alan, with his blade-like arm ready to hack off his head as he shouted, "Alan! I'd like to see how you'll catch me!"

Swing! Alton's arm cut through the air making sharp noises, but the very instant it had arrived before Alan's head, there was a change.

"As you wish," A cold voice sounded from behind him, as his shape-shifted arm had instead cut through a fake image.

Alton felt a sense of crisis behind him, so he instantly activated his shapeshifter ability transforming himself into a small creature with wings.

The moment that happened, the whooshing sound of something large cutting through air sounded before a loud bang as it smashed into the ground sending rubble about the area.

"Che! This darn fellow is slippery," Alan cursed under his breath, he was about to lift his sword but at this time he sensed that he was being attacked from all directions.

'He's even faster in this small form…' Alan thought as he swung his blade towards various directions parrying the myriad of attacks launched by Alton, who had merely used his arm like a whip and a blade.

Ting-ting-ting! With a sound like blades colliding, Alton stood at a distance while swinging his elongated arm about as it shimmered leaving countless flashes in the area, creating sparks with each collision made against Alan's blade.

"Such a tough bastard, but I'd like to see how long you can persist under my offensive," Alton said with a sinister look now in his eyes.

As Alan seemed to be struggling against Alton's attack, his eyes flashed when he thought, 'His attacks are fast due to his abilities to change his shape, but his offensive power is lacking. To end this quick, I only need to draw him up close and use that to suppress him…'

After clearing his thoughts, Alan ran towards Alton while flexible avoiding the attacks by swaying his body. Those which he could not avoid, he swung the sword to parry it while running towards Alton like a blurry shade.

"You want to close the distance? Heh, as if I'd let you!" Alton said as he prepared to use his arm to propel himself in a different direction. However, Alan seeing this stopped charging as he grasped his blade with two hands and swung it towards Alton's direction when shouting, "Berserk Cut!"

A blade ray beamed towards Alton at alarming speeds, forcing him to halt his movements, his body then shapeshifted into something small which vanished from Alan's line of sight due to its speed.

"You want to cut me, it's not so easy, watch as I let you pay for that mistake of yours!" Alton said his body moved like an indistinct blur in the night.

When Alan's attack had missed, Alton swiftly arrived behind him and had silently reshaped his figure. He then struck his blade-like arm towards Alton's chest with his hands as a savage-look came on his face when he thought, 'Using a wide-area attack against my speed, so foolish. You should go suffer for your mistake in hell!'

In an instant, the blade-like arm of Alton was already upon Alan's back, as he could already see the scene of when it plunged through his chest and heart. However, as Alton was still within his delusion, Alan merely smirked and spoke, "Terror Aura..."

The moment Alan said this, his body glowed in red lights for a moment before a scene filled with blood, and death came into Alton's eyes. He saw himself being hacked apart repeatedly against a horde of men in angular shaped armors with jagged blades. His organs were falling to the ground, creating a dismal scene as he was forced to experience death for a few dozen times.

"What is this? Nooo! Ahhhh!" Alton screamed as his mind went blank, and this world faded into nothingness.

Back in the real world, Alton had suddenly halted in front of Alan. At this point, Alton's blade-like arm had still pointed towards his heart, but his previously savage face was now filled with an expression of terror and fear.

Alan smirked as he put away his sword and spoke, "You've made things too easy, Alton. It's time for you to sleep now, from this point onwards we'll have you up for 24/7."

As Alan said this, he raised his hand and smashed it against Alton's neck with full power causing the latter to fall on the ground in an unconscious state. He then grabbed him by the collar and carried him like a bag as he looked around at the other battles.

At this moment, a flurry of green lights flashed about in an almost imperceptible manner. It lashed onto the body of a female that was clad with dense water energies that formed a naturally resistive barrier.

Though each strike was fast, however, it didn't seem capable of bringing harm to the woman as she looked at her assaulter and mocked, "Hmph! You MSS running dogs aren't as capable after all; even with so many hits, you're still unable to break through my Water Shroud. It looks like it will end the same as last time, Water Bullets!"

Following Donna's words, a stream of water gathered towards her again, forming a myriad of tiny water balls that were the size of a finger.

Swish-Swish! Soon, they had rapidly fired towards Angeline, moving at speeds comparable to bullets fired from a machine gun.

Angeline didn't panic as she saw this. Instead, her face revealed a smile as she waved her thorny whip that turned into a myriad of flashing green lights that broke apart the rain of water bullets.

"A bitch like you, calling me a running dog, you have quite a sense of humor. Last time I was merely unprepared, you speak of victory too soon," Angeline said with a confident look as she calmly broke apart the water bullets, while her arm that was now behind her had vaguely pointed its finger towards the ground.

"Say that again when you can break my Water Shroud!" Donna said as she prepared to use another technique, but at this moment, before she couldn't react, a change occurred.

"Gladly! Bramble Lock!" Angeline said as the ground below Donna had glowed in bright green light. Before Donna could even react, a myriad of thorns had risen from the ground binding her body into place along with a few roses.

Donna was alarmed at this, but even though she couldn't move, when she noticed that her coating of water was still fine, she sighed in relief and mocked, "Haha, you must have really racked your brain to come up with this one. So, what now? I'm bound, but can you still bring harm to me?"

Angeline smirked and answered while fixing her hair, "What good is a rose without her thorns? As a beautiful woman, I know when and how to make use of my thorns, I suppose those that are wilted has no such comprehension."

"You..." Donna was angered at those words, as it hinted about her age passing its prime. However, before she could make a snappy reply, Angeline spoke again, "You call yourself a scientist, but don't you understand the value of such pure water to plants and flowers?"

When Donna heard this, her face sunk as she glanced around her body. She then noticed that the thorns of the roses were slowly tearing through her water shroud as if it were slowly absorbing it.

"Damn! You vile whore, to think you were this crafty!" Donna cursed as she promptly began to gather more water streaming to reinforce her barrier.

However, deep down, she knew that this would not last forever, while she was using most of her strength to conjure more water. Her opponent wasn't doing anything at all, as her thorns were merely performing a natural function.

'Am I going to be captured like this?' Donna said to herself as her mind flashed with despair.

Angeline smiled as she saw that look and she spoke, "This is what you get for injuring me before, bitch!"

Upon saying this, Angeline didn't pay Donna any more attention as she shifted her sights towards the side. There, she saw that Alan was walking over with the unconscious Alton.

Donna who saw this became even more dismal as her face turned pale, she glanced towards the location of the battling Marcus and the others, but she could only look with shock at the scene in the distance.

Marcus moved like a tank as he smashed through boulders with his husky frame and chopped apart the trees with his battle axes. Yet, despite his tank-like charge, he couldn't get close enough to either Hank nor Thomas.

Hank would occasionally toss shockwave grenades and fire concussion rounds from a single barrel gun as he backed up. While the speedy and flexible Thomas jumped from tree to tree while tossing daggers.

As the shockwave grenades exploded, a mini shockwave was formed for a five-meter region, blowing away any object in their vicinity. Marcus, however, was only pushed back by a meter each time and was even capable of directly resisting the damage.

The only thing that threatened him was the concussion rounds that burst when it contacted his skin, releasing a type of toxic gas in his surroundings. The knives tossed by Thomas also had a strange sharpness allowing them to pierce his skin and allow for areas cut to carry a paralysis effect.

"You baaastards!" Marcus lifted his head and yelled as no matter how fast he swung his ax and repelled the attacks; there were always a few that broke past his defense and stacked up wounds.

Soon, the axes in Marcus's hands fell to the ground as he stood up shakily. Much like a bear that had lost its strength to fight, he staggered before slumping over. As they saw the beast fall, Hank and Thomas walked over with calm looks as they spoke.

"Heh, serves you right, daring to injure me last time. Don't blame us for using this method, after all, we're no fighters, but hunters..." Hank said with a cheeky look as he put away his gun in his backpack, causing it to make ruffling noses due to the many strange weapons inside as he lit his cigar.

"Poor guy, he would have done better if it were anyone else except for us, who were prepared," Thomas said as he looked at the unconscious Marcus.

"Who cares? Look, Ange has already finished, and Ex Instructor Al has also wrapped up it seems we'll be the ones who'll be treating them tomorrow," Hank said with a look of sadness.

"It appears so," Thomas replied with a sigh.

Soon, the two brought over Marcus with two ropes attached to his feet that they grasped separately.

Alan looked at them and smiled before he spoke, "Good, we've all managed to finish in time. Let's get..."

Alan was about to say something, but it was at this moment, a voice sound from above them, "Shifting..."

As the voice said this, the bodies of Alton, Donna and Marcus had abruptly vanished, as in their place was a dummy doll with an odd brand marking.

"What... who?" Alan cursed as he looked up.

When Angeline and the others heard this, they also looked up in shock. There, they saw a figure of a gorgeous woman with a masquerade mask standing at the summit of a tree. She had long silver hair and wore an unusual white robe with the marking four on its surface.

The high moon illuminated the woman's profile as her icy almond-shaped eyes gazed at everyone below her when she spoke, "To think that you would even hinder our plans to this extent. Alan Lawson, Angeline Meadows, you have done well, but know this, I Silver have now officially marked you. When the time comes, we will meet again."

"Che! You think you can come and go as you please, get down!" Alan shouted as he jumped from the ground. In almost a flash, he arrived before the woman and chopped his blade towards her.

Still, despite being fast, the woman called Silver was even faster. She easily parried the blade with her fingernail, and spoke with a faint smile, "Yes, we'll most certainly meet again, and I'll be sure to visit you first... Mr. Lawson. Shifting..."

As she said her last words, her body distorted, leaving behind a dummy doll with a silver marking and a beeping object embedded within it.

Alan wanted to curse, but as he saw the doll and object attached to it, he shouted while using his blade as a shield, "Everbody get down!"

Following his words, his body became shrouded by his battle energy, and his blade was glowing in bright lights. Angeline looked at Hank and Thomas as she shouted, "Everyone by me! Bramble Lock!"

As they got by Angeline's side, many thorns formed around them in clusters covering them in entirety. This all happened in a flash, as by the moment everyone protected themselves, the object flickering with lights on the doll had stopped flickering.

BOOM! A massive explosion soon erupted in this region of the forest, destroying the area for a few dozen meters. When the lights faded, the figures of Alan and the others were once more visible, but if one looked closely, they would notice that they had suffered a few wounds.

"Cough! That bitch... who the hell... was... she..." Alan said before collapsing on the ground and losing consciousness.

As they were more distant from the explosive, Angeline, Hank, and Thomas were less injured. They ran over towards Alan while calling out with worry, "Instructor Al!"

When they arrived by his side, they saw that he was covered with burns and had grave wounds pouring out blood. Angeline promptly acted by taking out DH Tube's and pouring it over his wounds and mouth as she spoke, "This won't be enough to heal him; we must hurry back to the headquarters! We'll think about that woman after we get to safety."

"Right!" Hank and Thomas replied.

After their words, the trio then left with Alan in tow vanishing from the region shrouded by the sinister mood of the night.