Darkflare

Like the previous worm, eating a Light burst is not very healthy for it and proceeds to explode. The worm that attacked Melina dives back into the sand after missing. The needles would hit the sandworm as it attacked Anwalt but it's thick hide would allow it to shrug it off. The shield soldiers that were firing at Raina continue to do so as the armored soldiers begin charging up their weapons. Having missed it's target, the worm burrows back underground. With Lucent continuing to rise in the air, the soldiers would find that he would be too far to hit and would temporarily cease to fire on him. The shield soldiers that were aiming for Lucent now proceeded to fire toward the incoming Anwalt instead. While the wheel would proceed to move with the kicks, it would quickly begin to lose speed due to the soft sand terrain. Nonetheless, the soldiers firing at Umbra ceased fire as they focused on bracing for impact. The surviving worms that missed Anwalt and Melina began to retreat back to the soldiers. However, one of the worms headed to where Anwalt was anticipated to land, while the other worm proceeded to head toward Umbra. Midway through their travel, both worms would bury deeper as they planned to attack their targets the same way they attacked before. Wave 2/5  Sand Worms x6 Shield Soldiers x8 Heavy Armor Soldiers x4  Invasion Portal: Off (17/25) Enemy Invader: Absent

Rather than Melina, the sand worm proceeds to eat a delicious serving of Light Burst (Part of a complete breakfast) and immediately develops heartburn. And by heartburn, I mean it proceeds to explode spilling guts everywhere. Having missed it's target the sand worm proceeds to burrow back into the sand and go back to "swimming" One of the sand worms near the soldiers proceeds to move toward the worms near the group to replace their fallen brethren as they prepare their next attack. While Raina proceeds to make more chunks of the dead worm, the shield soldiers proceed to aim their guns toward the group in the air. Half the of them fired at Umbra while two fired toward Lucent and the remaining two fired toward Raina intending to shoot them down from the sky. The worms near the group would suddenly seemingly seem to stop as their obvious movement in the sand stopped being so obvious. That's because in the next moment, all three worms would simultaneously attack Anwalt, Lightflare and Melina straight from underneath their feet Two of the worms near the soldiers would start moving toward Umbra intending to intercept him. Wave 2/5  Sand Worms x7 Shield Soldiers x8 Heavy Armor Soldiers x4  Invasion Portal: Off (16/25) Enemy Invader: Absent

Once the group arrived in the desert area, the enemies began to be on alert. The shield soldiers began to line up as a wall in front of the heavy armor soldiers. In this formation, the soldiers would make a slow march toward the group. At the same time, three of the large underground beings split off and began to rapidly approach the group. One of them went ahead of the others and approached whoever was closest. Once it got close, it's identity was revealed as it leaped from the sand revealing itself to be a large worm monster large enough to turn any one into an instant lunch targeting Melina as its snack. A second worm proceeded to go around to their right as it leaped off the sand and targeted Anwalt. The third one turned around but kept nearby as it seemingly waited for its friends to finish their meal. Wave 2/5  Sand Worms x8 Shield Soldiers x8 Heavy Armor Soldiers x4  Invasion Portal: Off (15/25) Enemy Invader: Absent

"Now's not the time to slack off, the enemy team isn't too far behind and you're all in this for the long run." Off in the desert area the group could see the next wave. Another batch of soldiers although these seemed to be bigger than the group they just faced. Heavily armored soldiers armed with large guns could be seen surrounded by a group of large shield wielding soldiers. Additionally, near them obvious movement underground could be seen suggesting large somethings swimming in the sand. Wave 2/5 Sand Worms x8 Shield Soldiers x8 Heavy Armor Soldiers x4  Invasion Portal: Off (15/25) Enemy Invader: Absent

Anwalt began to be covered by a few sparks, The sparks themselves didn't affect him nor do any damage, but one thing was clear....this was the system's way of warning him not to take any more damage. The combined attacks would proceed to break the ice underneath the remaining soldier who would proceed to take a dip into the freezing water finishing the wave. "First wave cleared." The tactic wasn't without another consequence as the rest of the ice began to form cracks all over. "Yea, I would get out of the ice. If it wasn't obvious, falling into the freezing water is an instant KO. Your next wave is in the desert area." Wave 2/5 ??? x8 ??? x8 ??? x4 Invasion Portal: Off (15/25) Enemy Invader: Absent

With the soldier still helping up their teammate, they didn't expect an attack so quickly as one of them was struck and eliminated from it. Caught off guard by Lucent's attack, the soldier near Melina starts backing off while waiting for her to be visible. However, it gets blindsided by Light's attack and taken out. The remaining soldiers were aiming for Anwalt before noticing the oncoming Umbra. They throw themselves into the ground using the ice to intentionally slip and create more distance to take shots at Umbra and Anwalt. The drone's kamekaze attack fails before it even gets very close as it gets utterly destroyed by the orb. Wave 1/5 Snow soldiers x2 Invasion Portal: Off (13/25) Enemy Invader: Absent

8 years has led to this.

"Sorry to handicap like you like this, but the system can't detect attacks toward spirits. It's not exactly something you see normally around here. Unfortunately, I'm afraid it means they won't be very effective for this drill." The soldiers began to cover themselves from the flash thrown by their partner toward their direction before one of them got assaulted by the familiar. The flash would disorient him and the familiar as his partners noticed what happened and headed toward their partner to help whack and shoot the familiar off of him. The drone preoccupied with another target takes the hit and proceeds to fall before exploding The soldier manages to notice Melina and proceeds to fire....at the ice between them causing a hole for Melina to fall into if she couldn't stop...a feat that would be quite hard to do given the lack of traction she would have due to the ice. The drones were no match for her firing speed and would be shot down. The remaining drone ceased fire and proceeded to hover at a high speed toward Raina intending to self destruct on her. Wave 1/5 Sphere drones x1 Snow soldiers x4 Invasion Portal: Off (9/25) Enemy Invader: Absent

The soldiers proceed to cease fire long enough to begin spreading out to start avoiding the attack. Unfortunately for them, a few of them get struck by it.....only to come out of it seemingly unscathed. "Wait, what the hell? That was a direct hit. Is the system suddenly bugging out? Hey kid, tell me quick, is there anything I should know about your magic? With the soldiers spread out from Lucent's attack, they would begin backing off while shooting at Umbra's familiars. The attack would only be able to get one of them while the remaining proceeded to focus fire on the familiars. The drones were still focus firing toward Light that they were unable to react to Anwalt as his boulder manages to take out two of them at once The soldier fires his shot as both projectiles clash and destroy with each other. The soldier then looks toward his teammates as he temporarily ignores Light to proceed to take out another flash grenade. "THROWING FLASH TAKE COVER!" He proceeds to throw it in the direction of Umbra's familiars. Raina manages to hit one of them but the other proceeds to hover out of the way in time. The remaining drones proceed to split in two groups as each pair begin to target Anwalt and Raina. Wave 1/5 Sphere drones x4 Snow soldiers x4 Invasion Portal: Off (7/25) Enemy Invader: Absent

Thanks to the special buff, Lightflare manages to destroy the drone. However, it has also turned him into a prime target as the nearby drones and soldiers begin to focus their fire on him as they believe him to be out of position from his team. One of the soldiers in the back proceed to assist by firing a charged beam toward him. The grenade gets kicked but unfortunately still manages to explode nearby going far enough to only affect her. The drones manage to get hit and proceed to fall down exploding on contact with the ground. Wave 1/5 Sphere drones x7 Snow soldiers x5 Invasion Portal: Off (3/25) Enemy Invader: Absent

The drones began to sound an alarm as the soldiers faced the group. The drones began to float higher and spread apart as the soldiers raised their weapons. The drones proceeded to get closer and begin to open fire. Two of the soldiers stayed in the back as they began to charge energy into their weapons as the remaining three followed behind the spheres. One of them proceeded to take out a flashbang and throw it behind the rock. Wave 1/5 Sphere drones x10 Snow soldiers x5 Invasion Portal: Off (0/25) Enemy Invader: Absent

The groups would begin to be lead into their respective arenas. Raph signaled some nearby mages who all proceeded to cooperate with each other to bring the groups into the center via teleportation magic. "Counting down..." The group arrives in the center, what appears to be plains. They could see every other area and how they sort of merged with each other in their respective edges. "3...2...1...Training drill started. Let's start off cool and easy. Your first wave is in the arctic area." Off in the arctic area, the enemies would begin making themselves visible. A group of snow coat wearing soldiers surrounded by floating sphere drones would begin to patrol the area. Until the group entered the area or shot them from afar they would continue to wander around the area. Wave 1/5 Sphere drones x10 Snow soldiers x5 Invasion Portal: Off (0/25) Enemy Invader: Absent

By the time Sasuke turned toward Gordeau he had already left back to his duties. The only ones nearby were a Mech Hisui sweeping the floor nearby and Anna. "We don't really have public computers here, but you're free to use your smartphone instead."

"That's not a good mentality to have before we even started. I may have an idea of what you're capable of, but so do you. You know your weaknesses better, use that to your advantage. I'm sure you can find a way to surprise me." "So taking the lead, eh Hero? Pay attention to your opponents as well. Looks can be deceiving, but I don't think they're hiding what their specialties are. I'll be keeping that in mind of course." "Gather around everyone. It's time for you all to see where exactly you're fighting. The arenas you'll be in are much larger than what you usually see around here. These are actually a little special in that certain areas will have a different theme assigned. See, the Hangout may have all this fancy technology in it, but it's not afraid to throw in a little magical assistance to enhance your experience, so these areas will almost feel like the real thing." "First we have a desert area. Yea, it's a little warm, but don't worry, it isn't as hot as the real thing. You're going to see a few large rocks and buried pillars around for you to take cover behind or even climb them up for a better view. The whole area is sandy of course, be aware that soft sand isn't exactly the easiest to run around in." "The second area assigned is an artic area. Heh, well isn't that interesting. It's pretty cold here, but manageable unlike the actual artic. The edges of this are are all covered in snow but deeper inside, it's all ice. Watch your step, you don't want to slip and become an easy target. Oh yea, there isn't much to take cover behind here, it's pretty open. Perfect for those that like to keep their distance." "Next up, we got a factory area. The good news is that the ground is easy to travel in and you don't have to worry about falling. The bad news is that there's a few conveyor belts and gears around that will move you around if you don't pay attention. Those belts will sometimes have boxes in them. They don't have anything inside, but maybe you can use them to your benefit. Just remember that they're destructible with a good strong attack." "Finally, a nice plains area right in the center. You'll start the match here and end it here. There's nothing fancy except for the nice view. Once all waves are cleared, the boss will appear in this area. Oh...I just realized it would be a bit too easy if it was just the boss. I guess I'll have it throw out a few minions to help it. Your priority target will be the big guy, but clearing out the smaller guys from time to time will make things easier for you." "All right, you got that? I'll let you know which area your current wave is in, so you don't wander around looking for the enemies. That said, any invaders will appear from the areas where the waves aren't, but still fairly close to where your team should be. Invaders can influence the portal to decide where exactly they'll initially show up but never right next to the enemy team. When you come back from causing havoc to the enemy team, you will appear in the center plains area whether you were defeated or not. Oh, and in case you were wondering, both arenas are the exact same. We're not playing favorites here." "Well that about covers everything. Miss, your group agreed to let you be in Leon's team, right?" "Yeah, there were no objections." "Very well, you and Leon's group are assigned the arena just further ahead. The rest of you get this one you see right here. We'll start in just a few minutes. Make sure you're prepared, check your equipment, check that your abilities are working, check that you're wearing your lucky socks. It's too late to back down now and once we start, there will be no excuses."

"Going to have to agree with Lucent. Have fun, but take this seriously. We might learn a few things from this." The man known as Leon proceeded to walk in with his own group. "Sorry to keep you all waiting. Allow me to personally thank you for this opportunity." "So these are the new recruits soon to be joining the knights?" "Well, I can't guarantee that. Some have gone to see the world as adventurers, but I'm hoping that we have done our job to prepare them for everything along their path." "Hm, this is a problem. There's only 5 of you and 7 of them. I guess I could see if I can get a few more to fill in." "That won't be necessary. I'll join with them, then it'll be an even 6 for both sides." "Not that I mind, but did you talk to your friends about this first?" "I'm doing this for them as well as myself. We actually haven't been together very long, but I've seen what they can all do. I would like to take this opportunity to be able to apply all sorts of theories I've had in mind....and....I would like to see how they can handle against someone that has an idea of their capabilities. I'm sorry, but please allow me this." "Well if you all agree with it, I'll allow it. If you need some time, that's fine, I need to go over the drill rules with Leon's group first anyway."

"The portal will be open at around 50 enemies defeated. It'll remain open until one of you enter. Once you arrive there, the only enemies there will be the enemy team, their enemies will completely ignore you. It goes without saying but don't kill their enemies, you're only helping them. You get about 20 seconds of being in their territory before you're forcibly pulled out. As for overall, you can take as long as you like, but remember that this is a race so don't linger around too long. Of course, in the unlikely event I feel both teams are taking too long, I'll just end it right there." "Well, since we're on the subject, I should mention that when you clear all waves you're not quite done. You'll have to defeat one nasty baddie first before you're done. Kill it and you win." "I've been mentioning about being defeated so let me explain how it works. I'm sure you can all last quite a while but things are different here. Take a good solid hit and the system will apply a stun effect on you. The effect is temporary at about 10 seconds, but that's 10 seconds you're down a man and that can be critical. That said, there is a way to circumvent it, if you got someone on your team that can heal. Get your healer to do their job and the stun effect will clear on the spot. So there's an idea when you decide to invade their territory. Seek out their healer cause they'll undo your work if you let them be. By the way, invaders will have a shield that will let them take more damage while they're invading. They're about twice as durable." "One last thing, when a team has reached the final enemy, the other team's portal will no longer require them to defeat a certain amount of enemies. Instead, it will open by itself after a certain time. Invading is critical here, if you get defeated while an invader is in play, the enemy boss will be healed up a bit."

"I think it'll be fine as long as there's a cooperative aspect." "Very well. Leon, get the rest of your group, you know where to find us." "Understood, see you soon." "The rest of you follow me. I'll explain everything on the way." Raph signaled the group to follow him as headed toward a particular arena. "One of your cooperative training drills is to have a group clear out several waves of enemies as fast as possible. This is going to be a variation of that. You'll be competing with another team in clearing out your waves first." "That seems surprisingly simple." "Agreed. That's why there's a twist to it. It's one of the reasons we haven't been able to test it more. Once you defeat a certain amount of enemies, a portal will open up. See, your team and the enemy team will have their own arenas. This portal is a gateway to their arena where you can go ahead and ruin their day. Only one of you can be there at a time and you have a limited time to have some fun before being forced back. Of course, your fun can end earlier if the other team defeats you." "I wouldn't try to be sneaky, the teams will be notified when they have an invader and said invader will be easy to spot since they're going to have a distinct glow to them. Of course, they'll have a few extra advantages of their own to help them out. My advice? If you're going to attack, you better be prepared to divide them quickly. The numbers still aren't in your favor after all."

"Cooperative it is. All right, come with-" Another man approached the group. "Hey Raph, we're not too late, are we?" "Oh Leon. Actually, you guys are early. Your group isn't scheduled for a while." "The thought of taking a training session here must have excited me more than I had thought. It's all right, it will give us some time to prepare." "I'll have you after these guys. ...Actually..." "My apologies for dumping this on you. I just remembered an experimental training drill that was being worked on. It's a hybrid of cooperation and competition. You could say it's like a race on who can clear waves first. I won't force you to do this if you're insistent on just a pure cooperative experience."